Africa-Press – Botswana. It is vital to create a safe environment essential for nurturing and developing stable men of strong and healthy minds, Minister of Youth and Gender Affairs ,Ms Lesego Chombo said.
Speaking at the commemoration of International Men’s Day in Gaborone on Tuesday, Minister Chombo said it was therefore critical to offer men unwavering support and cushion them to ensure a healthy mental status.
Minister Chombo said studies had revealed that masculinity was one of the contributing factors to men being reluctant to report or seek professional help whenever experiencing mental health challenges or any other health issues.
She said this year ‘s theme: Promoting Men’s Mental Health for Positive Masculinity, challenged the nation to pay attention to men’s health as it was a major influence on the behavior they model to society.
“The theme further challenges us to redefine masculinity, interrogate our norms, values and gender stereotypes, in an effort to dismantle stigma and barriers that impede men from expressing their concerns and emotions,” said Minister Chombo.
Because communities had set or adopted values and norms, which defined masculinity, Minister Chombo said, it was such social systems that piled pressure on men to strive to live up to such societal expectations.
She said it was important to understand what masculinity was, adding that experts and intellectuals defined masculinity as a set of thoughts, feelings and actions that were generally suitable for men.
Minister Chombo further said varying statistics showed that men undergo various stress of diagnosable mental health challenges, anxiety disorder, depression or alcohol abuse over their lifetime.
Such, she said, called for a collaborative effort to support men; who are fathers, uncles, brothers, husbands or partners to freely express emotions to relieve them from stresses they face. She urged Batswana men and boys to offer a shoulder to one another, so as to be able to share their emotions.
“Let us desist from perpetuating our stereotypes of pilling societal pressure on men and boys expecting them to display a conforming character of playing strong,” said the minister.
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