29 Jun 2021

Gilbert Promotions, a music production company, is planning to pit Franco and Dr Vom, this time around not on a music stage, but in a boxing ring.

The celebrity boxing match dubbed: Real fight Against GBV: Franco versus Dr Vom, pencilled for , come September, is meant to raise awareness about Gender Based Violence (GBV).

Speaking during the official launch of the event recently, Minister of Nationality, Immigration and Gender Affairs, Anna Mokgethi commended the company, saying the initiative was the first of its kind in response to GBV by the creative industry players.

She noted that GBV remained a national concern, saying in January alone, 4 996 GBV cases that included murder, rape, defilement, threat to kill and assault, were registered across the country.

She said while government continued to make efforts to mitigate the scourge, the GBV challenges remained, thereby requiring more focus and the intervention of other stakeholders.

Mokgethi, who is also Member of Parliament for Gaborone Bonnington, expressed hope that the Real Fight Against GBV Franco versus Dr Vom initiative would motivate followers of the two celebrities and challenge other stakeholders to also rise to address GBV-related matters in their communities.

“I am impressed by the approach adopted by the creative industry to assist government and other stakeholders towards the response to GBV,” she said, adding that the celebrity boxing match would go a long way in raising awareness and sensitising people about the matter as well as defining the role of men in the fight against GBV.

She highlighted that GBV was systematic and entrenched in some cultural practices and traditions, which tended to encourage harmful masculinity, saying although it affected both males and females, women and girls were the most affected, while men were largely the perpetrators.

She expressed hope that the match would lead to attitude and behavioural change among men and help them plan to mobilise boys of all ages and teach them to refrain from violence against women and girls.

For her part, the director of gender affairs, Thapelo Phuthego, noted that the 2018 survey on violence against children indicated that 28.4 per cent female and 43 per cent male children locally experienced physical violence before the age of 18.

She said the leading perpetrators of physical violence were parents, adult care givers or relatives, as well as adults in the community and peers.

“Gender based violence cannot be ignored as it does not have boundaries, if it does not directly affect us at individual level, it affects someone we know or even care about, therefore, the fight needs  concerted efforts,” she said.

Meanwhile, Gilbert Seagile of Gilbert Promotions shared that the purpose of the celebrity match, which would take place in September, was to arrest people’s attention by providing infotainment about GBV.

He said he decided to feature Dr Vom and Franco as the two had long been in the music industry and had ‘satisfactory’ followership, adding that if their fans got the message, it would be easier for them to spread it to others in different communities.

Initiated during the country’s first lockdown, the idea of the Real Fight against GBV: Franco Versus Dr Vom was based on the observation that the two legends were easily agitated to the point of exchanging fists, whenever things did not go ‘accordingly’, during their music shows.

Therefore the attitude they displayed will be used positively to discourage gender based violence. Ends