Executive director for corporate relations, Normah Zondo, raised concerns at the awareness campaign on gender-based violence at Howard College, University of KwaZulu-Natal, on Thursday. PICTURE: Supplied UKZN
“Don’t turn a blind" - that was the theme of the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) gender-based violence (GBV) awareness campaign held on Thursday, August 31, at the Howard College Campus.
The aim of the campaign was to educate the university community on GBV and strengthen the university’s commitment to combating it.
Earlier this year the university announced the establishment of a GBV desk located in the vice-chancellor’s office.
Speaking at the event, Normah Zondo, executive director for corporate relations at UKZN, said the problem with GBV is pervasive; even the academic institutions are not immune to this societal challenge.
She said to contextualise the challenge, the statistics as cited by Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology Blade Nzimande at the Changing MENtalities Summit on Tuesday, revealed that 10% of all reported rape cases involve young women in higher education.
“In the face of this challenge, our sector has not been passive. Since the GBV Policy Framework's launch in 2020, many systematic interventions have been implemented across institutions to counter GBV effectively,” said Ms Zondo.
“Here at UKZN, we have initiated our own interventions. These include the formulation and adoption of our comprehensive GBV policy which we unveiled on International Women’s Day in March.”
She said this policy encompasses three key pillars: creating enabling environments; prevention and awareness; and support and assistance.
She added that in March, Vice-Chancellor Professor Nana Poku, announced the establishment of a new GBV hub to be located within the office of the vice-chancellor.
The strategic location of the hub will ensure better coordination of all responses to GBV. Most importantly, it also underscores how gravely the university regards the issue of GBV in the institution.
“I am happy to announce that the process of appointing the strategic coordinator for sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) response is under way. We envisage that the process will be concluded soon and that the appointed person will assume duties in November. This official will be a central figure in shaping and implementing the university’s comprehensive approach to SGBV. The strategic coordinator’s areas of focus will include enforcing accountability measures, enhancing preventive systems, and bolstering existing support and response mechanisms,” said Ms Zondo.
She said the appointment is critical in instituting a zero-tolerance policy on SGBV across all campuses of the university. The coordinator will oversee the revision of existing SGBV-related policies and manage systems for the monitoring, evaluating, and tracking of reported SGBV cases. They will also be responsible for handling confidential complaints received through hotlines and other reporting mechanisms, said Ms Zondo.
“Strategic guidance for all colleges, schools, and campuses will be an integral part of this role. So far R2.5 million has been raised from donors and will be used to fund the GBV secretariat. Additionally, we’ve created a specialised GBV Investigations Unit. While it’s located at the Howard College campus, the unit also deploys GBV support officers across all campuses. One of the priorities of this unit is maintaining utmost confidentiality on these cases to ensure the prevention of secondary victimisation for victims of GBV,” said Ms Zondo.
The university will soon launch a social justice educational module. This curriculum is set to pilot at the College of Humanities before being rolled out to all colleges, Ms Zondo said. The module is aimed to broaden students’ perspectives on not just GBV but also on a variety of social issues like racism, gender inequality, and classism.
It was developed by a multidisciplinary team of academics and aims to empower students to critically examine social issues and their roles within these contexts.
“We believe this module, which will be compulsory for all first-year students will help foster active participation in societal change. We are committed to working closely with all stakeholders to decisively address GBV at our university. Our activism and awareness campaigns will be ongoing with students at the forefront of various campaigns. Over the next few weeks, students will lead awareness marches on all campuses as we strive to create a safer, more inclusive environment for all,” said Ms Zondo.