TBL embarks on awareness against gender violence

DAILY NEWS Reporter

TANZANIA Breweries Limited together with its subsidiaries under its mother company, AB INBEV, joined other organisations to celebrate 16 days of activism to oppose human rights violation and gender oppression especially to women and girls.

The celebration is annual event which started over the weekend, organised by Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF), a non-profit organisation in collaboration with other organisations waging war against gender based violence, development stakeholders, governmental and non-governmental organisations.

TBL Information Officer, Amanda Walter, said in Dar es Salaam over the weekend that the brewer would use various media channels to disseminate messages against GBV such as radios, newspapers, and social network sites.

She said that TBL employees also joined other stakeholders on peaceful demonstrations held in Dar es Salaam at the weekend, to oppose GBV. “TBL has decided to use these celebrations to send a message to the community to stop gender based violence through a campaign dubbed ‘No Excuse’” said Walter.

This year’s theme can literary translated as “Stop violence against women and children as that will never leave you on the safe side, take action”. The aim of the celebration was to create public awareness against Gender Based Violence (GBV) and calling people to act.

WiLDAF Acting Director, Anna Kulaya, who was speaking on behalf of nonstate actors, urged the government to enact Domestic Violence Act, initiate family courts to speed up hearing of family cases to enable timely access to justice.

TBL has participated in the celebration to plant a seed of change as its primary business is selling alcohol. TBL has the responsibility to encourage the community to drink responsibly and not use alcohol as a source of GBV.

Among other activities under ‘No Excuse’ campaign she said, TBL would issue specific messages about GBV along with other issues like reckless driving which is sometime caused by overdrinking.

“Our messages on ‘No Excuse’ campaign will encourage local community to refrain from any actions that harm other people like violence against women, men, rape, the use of abusive language, fighting to mention just a few,” TBL said.