The North-West University (NWU) is hosting a Gender Awareness Week from 2 to 8 August to promote widespread awareness of gender matters in the workplace, society and communities. The week-long event will consist of various workshops seminars, readings, exhibitions and even a music concert.

Gender Awareness Week is aimed mainly at the NWU’s staff and students but will also include members of the community. Important topics such as inclusion and LGBTIQ+ related issues will be on the agenda, although it will not solely focus on these but also on other issues. Because the event coincides with Women’s Month, it is also an ideal opportunity for the three campuses of the NWU to focus on women.

“The event is a diverse offering of events and opportunities all focused on gender and identity at the NWU. The awareness week is a conscious initiative to raise awareness of the links between gender and identity, identity and difference and difference and the need for an inclusive perspective on diversity,” says Prof Robert Balfour, deputy vice-chancellor for teaching and learning.

“Diversity and the inclusion of diversity are integral to the NWU’s vision and commitment to social justice, he says. “Gender is one of the key signifiers of difference that lead to the exclusion or marginalisation of our society. Examples of the effects of exclusion include abuse of woman, harassment in the workplace and patriarchy, among others. This is why raising awareness is so important.”

Prof Robert says it is important for students and staff alike that the NWU – as a newly restructured institution with a new strategy – develops a culture of inclusion, belonging and being welcoming.

Gender Awareness Week is a collaborative initiative between the NWU’s faculties, Student Life office, deans, Marketing and Recruitment and Corporate Communication.

For more information about Gender Awareness Week and the exciting events that form part of it, visit http://www.nwu.ac.za/gender-awareness-week.