JOHANNESBURG - The fight against gender-based violence cannot start when boys are men says the Growing Up Without Fathers Foundation.
It needs to start in childhood, teaching boys how to communicate, express their emotions and deal with their pain.
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The foundation's Charley Pietersen says many men still carry the unresolved pain of the little boys they once were.
Pietersen says tackling GBV cannot be left to government alone.
"50 and 60 year old men are sitting with little boy syndrome in them and the pain inside them," says Pietersen.
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"We are sitting with almost 60 percent of our children growing up without fathers," he adds. Pietersen says this is not something that is limited to President Cyril Ramaphosa to solve. He says it needs Premiers, Executive Mayors, businesses and society at large.