Students and staff from the North-West University (NWU) recently attended a national gender-based awareness campaign, dubbed #UniversitiesAgainstGender-BasedViolence, hosted by Wits University.
Under the banner of Practitioners against Gender-based Violence (GBV) in South African Universities, Community of Practice (CoP) representatives – consisting of students and staff – marched to raise awareness about gender, gender-based harm, overall gender relations and queerphobia.
The CoP is composed of 28 universities across South Africa and was created in 2020 when Wits University approached institutions in Gauteng about meeting regularly to do benchmarking and to provide support and guidance. Its working groups focus on governance, research, advocacy, interventions, and monitoring and evaluation.
Among the things the CoP is responsible for is to provide ongoing support for staff and students, to do advocacy work around GBV, to champion safety, and ultimately – the eradication of GBV in universities.
Ujeet Maharaj, prosecutor and head of Student Discipline and an NWU CoP representative, says the NWU appreciates to have been part of the #UniversitiesAgainstGender-BasedViolence campaign.
“We are proud to have been part of this campaign, and we want to extend our gratitude to the organisors and a special thanks to Wits University.”
The next CoP national meeting will take place on 19 to 21 November, where the student CoP will engage at the Protea Mariott Fire and Ice Hotel in Cape Town. The NWU will be represented by two students – George Phetoe and Ernest Coetzee.
The staff CoP will meet at the same venue for a unitary information session, forensic training (provided by the University of Cape Town), and GBV awareness training by the national team. This meeting will take place from 21 to 25 November and will involve all 28 universities. Staff members representing the NWU at the meeting will include Ujeet, Tshidiso Ntshabele, Vedhna Lalla, Michelle Bownes, Genevieve Poodhun, Andrea Nicholenas and Lucas Makoro.
Prof Linda Du Plessis, deputy vice-chancellor for planning and Vanderbijlpark Campus operations, commends the work that is done by the CoP and says it is playing a crucial role in sensitising individuals in general and university staff and students in particular, around the issues of GBV.
“Every GBV case is one too many and it is our responsibility to speak up against GBV. If we keep quiet, ignore the past or forget those that have suffered, we will not stop it,” she says.
“Bad things happen when good people do nothing, and GBV in any form should not be tolerated. We recognise its affects not only on women, but all gender identities and sexual orientations, including the LGBTQIA+ community and marginalised minorities. Every person should enjoy the fundamental rights of equality, dignity, freedom, security, as well as the protection of bodily and psychological integrity.”
Doing their part to eradicate gender-based violence. From left are Andrea Nicholenas, Genevieve Poodhun, Tshidiso Ntshabe, Vedhna Lalla, Prof Linda Du Plessis, and Ujeet Maharaj.
