A former inmate speaks out on the role of violence in his life

Jerry is part of Sonke’s Beyond the Bars programme, a support group for former inmates that meets weekly at Sonke’s Wellness Centre in Gugulethu in the Western Cape. Jerry spent 12 years in prison for a sexual offence. Here, he speaks to Sonke’s Czerina Patel, on the role violence has played in his life before he went to prison, while he was in prison and since he has left prison. He explains how growing up in a violent society normalised violence for him and contributed to his own violent nature.