Address other issues apart from violence

AS a long time player in the field of advocating against gender-based violence, I would like to raise an issue on one area that we in Papua New Guinea keep on ignoring and we continue to blame ourselves using our vulnerability.
It is good to note that the 16-20 days of activism in 2020 was downplayed to a lesser degree compared to previous years.
The male population with interest on gender-based violence advocacy is now split into smaller groups ready to challenge those who continue to stand with non-government organisations (NGOs) and Consultative Implementation & Monitoring Council to tell us that when a 12-year-old girl helps her mother carry bundles of firewood on her head and when an 8-year-old boy helps carry a bucket full of water, it is ‘child abuse’.
Those of us who have come out of our shells now question the so called male advocates under NGOs and Consultative Implementation & Monitoring Council some questions.
Are you providing meals every day for our families?
Are you going to supply us with mules, donkeys and cars to ease our daily burdens?
What do you have to say about priests and pastors having sexual relations with their female congregation members, teachers having sex with students and health workers having sex with their patients?
No NGO and not even the Consultative Implementation & Monitoring Council has been bold enough to speak out about the abuse of office by those in authority over a job-seeking mother or an employer over an employee based on social, ethnic and educational backgrounds.
Aren’t these real issues that we should be addressing rather than blaming it all on wife beating?

Gerard Saleu