UFH hosts monthly anti-GBV campaign
The University of Fort Hare Gender-Based Violence Prevention Unit, in collaboration with the UFH Student Counselling Unit, The Eastern Cape Audio Visual Centre (ECAVC) and Stand as One, held an anti-rape campaign last Friday at the Miriam Makeba Centre of Performing Arts.
The campaign formed part of a monthly series of events focused on issues of genderbased violence (GBV).
The discussion was centred on what can be done to make university campuses and communities safer, with particular emphasis on the issue of consent.
A guest speaker for the month of May was Prof Pumla Dineo Gqola, who is an awardwinning feminist author and professor of Literary and Cultural Studies at Nelson Mandela University.
Gqola also holds the SARChI Chair in African Feminist Imagination at NMU.
Gqola’s books include The Landmark Study, What is slavery to me? Postcolonial/slave memory in post-apartheid South Africa, the 2016 Sunday Times Alan Paton Award winner Rape: A South African Nightmare, and Female Fear Factory, which recently won the 2022 Best Non-Fiction Monograph at the National Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences Awards.
Speaking at the campaign, Gqola said since the Covid-19 lockdown, universities had reported a high number of rape cases.
“Universities across the world are battling with this, it’ sa university problem and universities need to take intellectual leadership,” she said.
Nokukhanya Ndhlovu, a doctorate fellow from UFH, said the event was important as it included discussions on rape, compelled rape and sexual violence.
“Additionally, the event was a platform for us to unpack some of the harmful norms and behaviours that have been normalised in our societies.”
She said another important discussion was based on consent and informed consent.
“Overall, these events are very important because they provide a platform for students to learn about the dynamics of GBV and the importance of an intersectional approach to GBV,” she said.