By Wendy Magagula

MBABANE:The People’s United Democratic Movement(PUDEMO)says some cultural and or traditional practices that give men power to oppress women must be changed to be in line with global gender equality standards.

In a public statement sent to this Swaziland News on Tuesday ahead of Women’s Month,Penuel Malinga,the PUDEMO Secretary General said the values,attitudes,traditional practices and all the unequal power relations between men and women must be systematically changed.

“The values,attitudes and traditional practices and all the unequal power relations between men and women must be systematically changed.While addressing the quantitative practical gender needs, we must always be focusing on the qualitative strategic gender needs.This is important so that women do not become co-opted into patriarchal structures, but we should be aiming to dismantle the whole patriarchal system of oppression as a whole. Women must not be apologetic for confronting patriarchy and sexist stereotypes and attitudes within and outside the movement itself.Building unity against these backward values in the whole society is critical. At times,tensions shall arise between men and women in the course of these struggles threatening political cohesion,which mustn’t make us retreat from principle against sexism.Our commitment to democratic principles,on the strength of our membership and allies, and above all,on the mass of the people,we are confident that we do not only possess the capacity but the decisive will to fulfil our historic missionWhich is why as PUDEMO we have an eternal goal of dismantling the oppressive regime and replace it with a multi-party dispensation which will ensure the full and equal realization of women emancipation in our society.That is why we established the secretary for Gender portfolio in every PUDEMO structure and her leagues with the aim to advance gender equality across the organization and its substructures,”reads the statement in part.