- Mettlestate is once again hosting its annual Gamers Against Gender-Based Violence charity drive and awareness campaign.
- This year donations are being raised for the TEARS Foundation.
- Software solutions firm BBD will be donating R50 000 to the initative.
August in South Africa is Women’s Month, with 9th August being Women’s Day. On this day, South Africans commemorate the day in 1956 when 20 000 members of the Federation of South African Women marched to the Union Buildings to petition Apartheid laws. Unfortunately, the women of South Africa face a new threat, gender-based violence (GBV).
According to the South Africa Police Service, there were 1 485 attempted murders of women in South Africa and over 15 000 assaults in the first three months of the year. Sadly 969 women were killed in that same period.
Statistics show that while 28.8 percent of assaults are committed by an unknown person, 49.8 percent of assaults are committed by a person they know.
As such we wanted to highlight an initiative from local organisation Mettlestate that has become an annual gaming event.
That event is #GamersAgainstGBV in which local streamers dedicate their platforms to raising awareness and garnering donations for organisations that combat gender-based violence.
This year, the campaign is raising funds for the TEARS Foundation, an organisation that provides access to “crisis intervention, advocacy, counselling, and prevention education” among other support measures for survivors of gender based violence.
From today until 8th August, 26 local streamers will be rallying their communities toward the causing of fighting gender based violence.
These streamers are:
- AndrovaZA
- CamCeeJ
- Chloe_ZA
- DaddyCOolZA
- Darling Kitachu
- Gatoo Meow
- GoKatGo
- Grant Hinds
- HenricoM
- Hero_Creations
- Iris_85
- Jess Hinds
- KuduBru
- LighteRTZ
- Mama Succubus
- Mixxibean
- PandaTIGaming
- Pezlee_
- PhoenixTears
- RespawnedKitty
- RoBoHoBo
- RustyPieLover
- Sadistic Muffin
- Shenz_63
- ThendoPlays
- Warhammy
“As the premium esports and gaming authority in South Africa, Mettlestate is proud to be taking a firm stand against gender-based violence in gaming by partnering with TEARS Foundation. In the fight against gender-based violence, Mettlestate and the gaming community have already demonstrated
our capacity for change, and together, we have raised over R200 000 for various charities across South Africa,” explains senior project manager at Mettlestate, Carly Twaddle.
“From this year, Mettlestate and TEARS will officially partner to increase awareness and combat all forms of gender-based harassment in gaming, and going forward TEARS will be the sole beneficiary of all #GAGBV fundraising campaigns,” she adds.
Software solutions firm BBD will be donating R50 000 to the cause and will also provide support in raising awareness.
“Gender-based violence affects 1 in every 3 women in their lifetime. BBD is proud to put our name and our money behind this initiative and all of the women it will positively impact”, says Gus Pringle, BBD CFO and director.
The #GamersAgainstGBV event will culminate in a marathon stream where all creators will participate between 09:00 and 17:00 on 9th August.
You can find a schedule for the nine-day event here and donations can be made on the same page.
“With the number of South African girls and women in the video gaming community growing at a rapid rate, more needs to be done to raise awareness, and proper responses to sexual violence and harassment are necessary in both the digital and physical world,” founder and chief executive officer at TEARS Foundation, Marie Glennie said in a press statement.
“Gaming is often stereotyped as male, yet we understand that the majority of the players are committed to speaking up against harassment and to playing with integrity. As we celebrate Women’s Month, we applaud BBD and Mettlestate for their #GAGBV initiative, it will go a long way to break the silence and shift the culture in gaming to make this form of harassment universally unacceptable,” she added.
[Image – Provided]
