‘More women know their rights now’
GENDER-BASED violence in the higher education sector is only a reflection of what was happening in society, Higher Education and Training Deputy Minister Buti Manamela has said.
Manamela said the increase in the numbers of such cases was because women understood their rights better. In addition, he said, police opened up and improved their systems and became transformed.
In an exclusive interview with the Pretoria News, he said: “It is actually a combination of factors; it is not an upsurge nor is it a new thing; it is a reflection of what is happening in society.”
He said incidents of gender-based violence and reporting them was now out in the open and sexual perpetrators getting exposed.
The department had, he said, put in place platforms for students to report incidents of gender-based violence.
A few weeks ago Manamela led the signing of a pledge to stand up against gender-based violence during an imbizo at the Tshwane North College in Mamelodi.
Manamela condemned gender-based violence and said it could not be a business as usual while horrifying reports continued to emerge. As the issue of gender-based violence rose to the forefront at universities and colleges, students highlighted the need for programmes to actively address the scourge.
In response, the department mandated the Higher Education HIV/ Aids programme to address HIV/Aids and other issues and implement gender-based anti-violence strategies to mitigate the problem.
The goal has been to develop a comprehensive prevention programme and model that addresses gender-based violence at tertiary institutions.
In addition, various ministerial dialogues have been facilitated, which are critical in enabling the leadership to hear the voices of the students and understand the stark realities on the ground.
Under the leadership of Manamela, a series of imbizos have been held across campuses, meant to culminate in the launch of the Gender-Based Violence Policy Framework.
“This is not limited to women only,” Manamela said. Men identifying as homosexuals had opened up during the consultations about the abuse they suffered, he added.
He said under his watch, a platform to go all out to help students define sexual harassment would be developed.
“Both girls and boys have to define and understand what it is.
“They must be able to define it; we must build awareness around it; and this will help us make inroads into mitigating the scourge,” Manamela said.
After listening to what the students had to say, the deputy minister said the department would implement psychosocial and medical support for survivors of gender-based violence at the institutions of higher learning across the country.