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Staff Reporter
The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) has announced key strategic interventions expected to bring about significant change in the fight against Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGVB).
The University is appointing a central strategic coordinator for SGBV response, has established a specialised SGBV Investigations Unit and plans to roll out an innovative Social Justice Educational Module, which will be compulsory for all students.
The announcement was made at a recent GBV Awareness Panel Discussion held on the UKZN Howard College Campus.
Executive Director for Corporate Relations at UKZN, Normah Zondo said the SGBV response official will be central in shaping and implementing the University’s comprehensive approach, focusing on enforcing accountability measures, enhancing preventive systems, and bolstering existing support and response mechanisms.
“This appointment is critical in instituting a zero-tolerance policy on SGBV across all university campuses. The coordinator will also oversee the revision of existing SGBV-related policies and manage systems for the monitoring, evaluating, and tracking of reported cases,” said Zondo.
The newly established SGBV Investigations Unit will prioritise maintaining the confidentiality of cases and ensuring the prevention of secondary victimisation for victims of SGBV. Ms Zinhle Dlamini from the University’s Risk Management Services spoke on the operations of the unit and support systems available to students.
The UKZN Gender-Based Violence Committee Chairperson, Dr Janine Hicks spoke on the Committee’s efforts to respond to GBV against students in Higher Education.
“The University has been working hard to ensure that students are heard and that our GBV policies at UKZN align with the government’s response. We are delighted to have this institutional response to GBV!”
One of the speakers on the panel, Advocate Mzo Rusi, who heads the Sexual Offences and Community Affairs (SOCA) unit of the National Prosecuting Authority in KZN, explained the motivation for the establishment of the SOCA unit and Thuthuzela Care Centres, which prioritises on sexual offence matters.
He provided information on the services at these centres and advised on the many essential measures and protocols for reporting a GBV case.
Chairperson of the UKZN ‘Men of Virtue’ project, Sanele Zuma, said that as much as men are perpetrators, some are also victims of GBV. He highlighted some of the work ‘Men of Virtue’ are doing to bring them on board as partners in the GBV response, which includes dialogues and psychoeducation on topics such as consent.
The panel responded to questions from the audience, many of whom opened up about their own personal experiences with GBV and the poor service or lack of response they’d received from the authorities placed to protect and support them.
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