GBV: WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM A PANDEMIC

IN LIGHT of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s acknowledgement that gender- based violence is as much a pandemic as Covid- 19, it makes sense to evaluate the response to our GBV scourge against the reaction to a pandemic. There are important lessons we can learn from the way leadership has dealt with the pandemic.

Lesson 1: The Power of Priorities Once a serious threat is identified, it takes priority. Action is immediate and far- reaching. There is buy- in from most citizens. Issues such as legislation, funding, communication and a plan of action can then fall into place.

Lesson 2: The Power of Interruption

It is followed by an immediate break from the status quo. Practices and habits that allow the threat to fester and grow are changed or abandoned. When one looks at the slow progress we are making in addressing GBV, we fall short of the appropriate reaction.

Encouraging progress has, however, been made. In May last year, then higher education minister Naledi Pandor appointed a ministerial task team to look into sexual harassment and violence at universities. They advised the department on the implementation of a policy framework to help institutions deal with GBV. The policy framework was released in August this year.

Another positive development was the call last year by our 26 heads of public universities to act decisively in addressing GBV amid escalating incidents of violence against women on campuses.

A key factor is to focus on prevention, not only reaction. We need to concentrate our efforts on creating the kind of citizens for whom abuse is not an option. We need to re- energise our efforts to communicate the life skills to learners and students. We need to transfer an understanding of respect, equality and tolerance along with our academic programmes.

At the University of the Free State, we implemented our UFSS module a few years ago. It is compulsory for all study fields, aimed at ensuring students are successful in the world of work and that they form part of the next generation of responsible citizens. Initiatives like these need to be copied, continued and intensified.

Lesson 3: The Power to Adapt

At a recent protest against GBV, a poster caught my eye. “Being a woman in South Africa is to already have one foot in the grave”, it stated. We cannot afford to have our women exposed to this fearful reality. Here lies another lesson: how quickly societies can adapt to a new way of doing things. A prerequisite, though, is general buy- in from everyone.

Judging by the pronouncements made by some influential voices in the government, education and civil society, plus the vigour of anti- abuse activists, we seem to have taken the first lesson to heart. What we need now is an interruption of the status quo, a break away from condoning toxic masculinity and twisted paternalism; from turning a blind eye to abuse; from accepting bullying and an imbalance of power; from shirking our duty as educators. Then we need to adapt, implementing a culture of human rights, respect and equality in society.

We need to move to a “new normal” where women don’t feel that they are living with one foot in the grave. Where both their feet are on solid ground, supported on either side by the government and civil society.

We must do what is needed to rescue our women from the clutches of a pandemic because South Africa needs them.