In the words of Rajab Simeon “It is shocking to realize how we normalized violence against women and girls,

Rajab Simeon is from Mwapata village, Traditional Authority Mlomba in the southern Malawi district of Machinga. Rajab learnt how to mobilize men and boys for gender equality using the HeForShe Barbershop toolbox through the EU-funded Spotlight Initiative. He formed a forum where boys and men in his local football team can become agents of change against gender inequality and violence against women and girls.

“I grew up seeing child marriages and different types of gender-based violence practiced by my community without knowing their negative consequences. Girls were treated differently and couldn’t go to school. It was normal for me to see a man beating up his wife for serving him cold food. My own mother had gotten married at the age of 16, so early marriages were not strange. Through HeForShe dialogues arranged by the Spotlight Initiative, I now better understand gender inequality and my role in changing harmful social norms.

The trainings were eye-opening as I gained understanding on different types of sexual related gender-based violence that prompted me to establish a football barbershop group for Chirwa Football Club.

I am a football player for Chirwa FC and for every football match that we have, we do meet after the football match and discuss ways of treating women and girls in the homesteads and community well. We encourage each other to take responsibility for our actions, we hold other men accountable, and teach boys in the junior football team healthy, hon-violent behavior. Our group started with 21 members who meet after every football match.

I encourage more men and boys to participate in the gender equality conversation and be part of the solution”.

Rajab is one of  the male champions scaling up promotion of positive masculinities for male engagement on EVAWG and SRHR. The male champions are raising awareness on positivity masculinity/ inequalities (GBV) through different community awareness mediums. UN Women is working with an implementing partner, Creative Centre for Community Mobilization (CRECCOM) through the Spotlight Initiative funded by European Union.