Students, staff members, university leaders, gender activists and government representatives recently joined forces at the Vanderbijlpark Campus of the North-West University (NWU) for a powerful Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) Awareness Walk.
The walk came at a time when South Africa continues to grapple with the devastating impact of gender-based violence (GBV), including the killing of women and girls, making the call for greater awareness, reporting, prevention and accountability increasingly urgent.
Against this backdrop, the Vanderbijlpark Campus community walked in silence – not as a sign of weakness, but as a powerful expression of solidarity with victims and survivors of GBVF.
The event brought together male and female students, staff members and university leadership, alongside representatives from the Gauteng Provincial Government, the South African Police Service, the Gender-Based Violence Brigade, DODEA, community organisations and other partners.
Hope Sowoya, the Student Campus Council transformation and diversity officer for current affairs, said the walk was aimed at raising awareness about GBVF, standing in solidarity with victims and survivors, and demonstrating a collective commitment to addressing GBVF.
Guest speaker Regie Modibe from the Gauteng Department of Community Safety urged students to report incidents of GBV and encouraged survivors not to withdraw their complaints.
“This will not end if women keep on dropping the charges,” Regie said.
Her message highlighted the importance of reporting GBV incidents and ensuring that cases are allowed to proceed through the criminal justice system, while survivors receive the necessary support.
Joining the walk was the campus chief director, Andiswa Msi, who said the campus community had deliberately chosen silence as a powerful expression of solidarity with those affected by GBVF.
“Today, we walked in silence. But our silence was not weakness,” Andiswa said.
“Our silence carried the pain of those who have suffered. It carried the voices of those who are afraid to speak. It carried the memories of lives lost. And it carried a powerful message: GBVF has no place at the NWU.”
Andiswa said the commitment of the university to dignity, respect, equality, safety and accountability must extend beyond policies, strategies and speeches and be reflected in everyday actions.
“As leadership, we have a responsibility to do more than condemn GBVF. We must prevent it. We must strengthen awareness and education, create safe channels for reporting, believe and support survivors, and act when concerns are raised,” she said.
She stressed that every member of the university community has a role to play in creating a safer environment.
“Every student deserves to study without fear. Every staff member deserves to work in safety. Every person deserves to move freely without constantly looking over their shoulder. Every survivor deserves to be heard, supported and treated with dignity.”
The walk also challenged students and staff to consider how they respond when they witness behaviour that threatens another person’s safety or dignity.
“The real test begins after this walk. It begins when we return to our offices, when we return to our residences, when we return to our classrooms and communities,” Andiswa said.
“Will we remain silent? Or will we speak? Will we look away? Or will we intervene? Will we protect reputations? Or will we protect people?”
Andiswa said the commitment to ending GBVF extended across all three NWU campuses.
Addressing survivors, Andiswa reaffirmed the commitment of the university to ensuring that their voices are heard and that they receive support.
“We see you. We hear you. You matter. Your dignity matters. Your safety matters,” she said.
She urged the university community not to normalise violence, abuse or fear, calling on everyone to take responsibility for creating safer spaces.
“We will not normalise violence. We will not normalise abuse. We will not normalise fear. And we will not be silent when another person’s dignity is under attack.”
The awareness walk served as a visible demonstration of solidarity and a reminder that addressing GBVF requires sustained action beyond a single event.
“Not at our NWU. Not on our campuses. Not in our communities. Not on our watch,” Andiswa said.
Photo: Students, staff members, university leaders, gender activists and government representatives recently joined forces for a powerful Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) Awareness Walk.
