VICE-CHANCELLOR’S COMMUNIQUE: International Women’s Day : Announcing the publication of Responding to Gender-Based Violence at UKZN
Dear Staff and Students
On International Women’s Day, it is fitting for the University Community to unveil its new policy, ‘Responding to Gender-Based Violence at UKZN.’ This initiative is not only central to the University’s broader Project Renewal; it is at the heart of our Duty of Care and in conformity with our moral as well as legal obligations.
It is a matter of shame and distress that our campuses are not safe havens from the varieties of sexual harassment and gender-based violence that beset South Africa more widely. The many proclamations on women’s rights include specific provisions for educational settings, such as the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (the Maputo Protocol), which requires us to “establish adequate educational and other appropriate structures with particular attention to women and to sensitise everyone to the rights of women” [Article 8(c)].
The unwelcome reality is that sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) is pervasive across the higher education sector in South Africa. It not only causes poor educational performance and physical, mental and emotional health effects; it is also harmful to the broader campus community. Insecure and/or threatening environments are pernicious and debilitating; and sexual and gender-based violence are particularly loathsome. On this, we can and have all agreed—locally, nationally and internationally. Protecting women’s human rights is a fundamental of peaceful human co-existence. So we cannot ask, ‘What kind of University do we want?’ without also invoking the question, ‘What kind of community will create and sustain our ideals?’
An effective response to SGBV within higher education institutes must be grounded in a thorough understanding of the context of SGBV within the specific institutional setting. UKZN is custodian to a large and diverse student body located across five campuses, with nearly half of UKZN’s students housed in University-owned or sponsored accommodation and presents a complex and uniquely patterned institution in which SGBV requires a very particular response. In seeking to properly understand what response is required, the University of KwaZulu-Natal has, since 2019, been engaged in a series of University-wide consultations and in-depth analyses on the problem of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) across her five campuses.
We have now produced an immediately implementable plan (attached) as the first step towards a long-term and sustainable strategic response. The plan aims to make visible and to operationalise a zero-tolerance approach to SGBV at UKZN. This means prioritising the issue of SGBV at the highest levels as part of Project Renewal’s transformation of structures and organisational frameworks that allow violence to occur on her campuses. At the same time, UKZN seeks to create an enabling environment and work towards the vision of bringing about normative transformation by offering its students and staff knowledge and insights into the dynamics of gender inequalities. A dedicated SGBV hub will be established at the Office of the VC to oversee the implementation of UKZN’s zero-tolerance response to SGBV and to track and report on progress.
UKZN’s plan is based on three key interlocking and mutually reinforcing components: 1) Creating enabling environments; 2) Prevention and Awareness; and 3) Support and Assistance. The full details of these components are set out in the document, ‘Responding to Gender-Based Violence at UKZN.’, which will be released to the entire University community as part of UKZN’s celebration of International Women’s Day.
I am very proud of this fundamentally important policy orientation, which will pervade every aspect of University business and begin the vital work of revitalising and strengthening the norm of protecting women’s human rights and advancing their work and careers in a safe, enabling environment. My deep thanks to everyone who has contributed to our consultations.
Professor Nana Poku
Vice-Chancellor and Principal
University of KwaZulu-Natal
Dear Staff and Students
On International Women’s Day, it is fitting for the University Community to unveil its new policy, ‘Responding to Gender-Based Violence at UKZN.’ This initiative is not only central to the University’s broader Project Renewal; it is at the heart of our Duty of Care and in conformity with our moral as well as legal obligations.
It is a matter of shame and distress that our campuses are not safe havens from the varieties of sexual harassment and gender-based violence that beset South Africa more widely. The many proclamations on women’s rights include specific provisions for educational settings, such as the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (the Maputo Protocol), which requires us to “establish adequate educational and other appropriate structures with particular attention to women and to sensitise everyone to the rights of women” [Article 8(c)].
The unwelcome reality is that sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) is pervasive across the higher education sector in South Africa. It not only causes poor educational performance and physical, mental and emotional health effects; it is also harmful to the broader campus community. Insecure and/or threatening environments are pernicious and debilitating; and sexual and gender-based violence are particularly loathsome. On this, we can and have all agreed—locally, nationally and internationally. Protecting women’s human rights is a fundamental of peaceful human co-existence. So we cannot ask, ‘What kind of University do we want?’ without also invoking the question, ‘What kind of community will create and sustain our ideals?’
An effective response to SGBV within higher education institutes must be grounded in a thorough understanding of the context of SGBV within the specific institutional setting. UKZN is custodian to a large and diverse student body located across five campuses, with nearly half of UKZN’s students housed in University-owned or sponsored accommodation and presents a complex and uniquely patterned institution in which SGBV requires a very particular response. In seeking to properly understand what response is required, the University of KwaZulu-Natal has, since 2019, been engaged in a series of University-wide consultations and in-depth analyses on the problem of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) across her five campuses.
We have now produced an immediately implementable plan (attached) as the first step towards a long-term and sustainable strategic response. The plan aims to make visible and to operationalise a zero-tolerance approach to SGBV at UKZN. This means prioritising the issue of SGBV at the highest levels as part of Project Renewal’s transformation of structures and organisational frameworks that allow violence to occur on her campuses. At the same time, UKZN seeks to create an enabling environment and work towards the vision of bringing about normative transformation by offering its students and staff knowledge and insights into the dynamics of gender inequalities. A dedicated SGBV hub will be established at the Office of the VC to oversee the implementation of UKZN’s zero-tolerance response to SGBV and to track and report on progress.
UKZN’s plan is based on three key interlocking and mutually reinforcing components: 1) Creating enabling environments; 2) Prevention and Awareness; and 3) Support and Assistance. The full details of these components are set out in the document, ‘Responding to Gender-Based Violence at UKZN.’, which will be released to the entire University community as part of UKZN’s celebration of International Women’s Day.
I am very proud of this fundamentally important policy orientation, which will pervade every aspect of University business and begin the vital work of revitalising and strengthening the norm of protecting women’s human rights and advancing their work and careers in a safe, enabling environment. My deep thanks to everyone who has contributed to our consultations.
Professor Nana Poku
Vice-Chancellor and Principal
University of KwaZulu-Natal