December is the period of time wherein the social fabric is brought to the test. But in 2020 the situation has been worsened by the scare of the worst pandemic in latter years, the Covid-19 eruption which has changed everything for the worse.
December is a month characterized as the highlight of pomp and funfair as the zenith of the festive season, a time for festivities and fairly because it is at the very end of the year when all and sundry look to unwind and rest off the yearlong fatigue of the year that was. It therefore comes as no surprise then that it is a time of heavy-spending whence we buy more than 75% of the things we barely need.
In most cases it is the time for families to unite and reconcile after being split apart for such a long time-the spread of the 11-month marathon. It then becomes at this juncture a time when families are able to sit and dine together as they reflect and reminisce on the year that was, while making new plans to better live the new year and in this case the year 2021.
Be that as it may, the period in question, and in particular this very week we are on, becomes a real test to our social and moral fabric as a people. It is time to realize that there are some among us who have chosen to live their lives finding pleasure in instilling pain and fear in the lives of others.
A few days ago the world, and indeed the beautiful Mountain Kingdom commemorated the umpteenth edition of the World AIDS Day. Ironically, the day falls within a time of constant reminder that we are all people created equally hence no one is to reign supreme over the other, the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.
In last weeks issue which was the commemoration issue of this subject, we read of harrowing information about more than a dozen women vanishing at the hands of their trusted male companions, be they partners (spouses) or even close relatives. It is actually quite disheartening to learn that there are still men who see women not as companions but as tools for their pleasure at any cost.
In this weeks edition of your favourite read, we note that equally disheartening is realisation that there are those, just like the latter, who find pleasure in inflicting pain on others thus selfishly looking out only for their joy and pleasure at any cost.
These are the brutes who do not deserve an iota of respect from real, reputable and respectable men. The brutes who abduct under-age girls saying that they are marrying them. In most cases, the purported marriage is done unilaterally with the male party the one whose joy and pleasure matter. In these instances, the poor girl child is subjected to brutal escapades of sexual violence at the hands of a group others who are supposed to be attending on the groom. This is said to be done to discourage the unwilling bride to want to flee as perchance she may already be pregnant.
It is these kind of issues that remind us that much as the subjects may be many, but all the social issues are interconnected and intertwined that is why in talking about child marriages, we touch o the subject of gender-based violence particularly against women, and as if that is not enough the scare of HIV/AIDS and its infection.
Men should be seen to be taking a stand to not only prove themselves as the men they shuld be, but to also take a stand and publicly disown and disassociate self from the brutes who instead of protecting the females old and young, they are the source of the sorrow and pain.
