YANA promotes gender equality

You Are Not Alone (YANA) Women and Family Care Centre hosted a unisex netball tournament at Mehlareng courts on May 7. The tournament was enjoyed by boys and girls of Bophelong Empilewni New Life Community Project, Thato One Big Family and People Opposing Woman Abuse.

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According to social worker and founder of YANA Jabulile Maseko, the event was created to spark a dialogue about the role mental health plays in gender-based violence (GBV).

“The tournament, which was played by all genders was a message to say that we are equal. We want the community to be aware of the different avenues they can take to cater for their mental health issues. That is why we came out to play the sport today,” said Maseko.

Maseko said that GBV sometimes stems from the inability of people to express themselves. She said many people have issues that they could not express to anyone and resorted to alcohol and substance abuse to numb their pain.

“As we know there is a relationship between substance abuse and GBV, and the reason is that people resort to not voicing out their opinions and challenges to other people and they end up bottling up their emotions. These emotions end up being too much for them to handle resulting in that person physically abusing their partner or family member,” said Maseko.

Maseko said it was important for people to seek professional help for their mental health issues. She said it is not healthy for any human being to bottle up their emotions as that just creates a bigger problem in society.

“Many people who suffer from mental health issues do not know how to get help. We want people to know that if they suspect they have any mental health issues, they can come to us as YANA or they can go see a social worker who can help them get medical help by referring them to a psychologist,” said Maseko.

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