The Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science & Innovation, Mr Buti Manamela, together with Higher Health (HH) will unveil further measures to strengthen student safety and eradicate gender-based violence in post education and training sector in UNISA.
The Department of Higher Education and Training and Higher Health, continually monitor the levels of gender-based violence which remains persistently high, both nationally and within this sector.
This puts particularly female students across South Africa’s universities and colleges in physical danger and causes psychological stress.
A study by HIGHER HEALTH, the agency tasked with developing and implementing health, wellness, GBV, mental health and other programmes in the higher education sector, revealed that 62% of students feel unsafe on campus and consider themselves to be at high risk to GBV.
While 60% of service staff and 71% academic staff did not feel safe on campus.
This and other evidence informed the gender-based violence (GBV) policy framework which was introduced in 2020 in order to create an enabling environment to further understand factors that drive GBV and to prevent and respond to GBV in post schooling education and training institutions.
This was followed by the formation of a GBV task team made up of experts in various fields including research, policy making, safety and security, psychosocial and medical specialities and student and academic leadership.
HIGHER HEALTH and the task team has prepared eight protocols that will guide the sector and individual institutions on specifics of dealing with GBV.
The protocols will facilitate measures such as safe rooms, disciplinary committees, writing of complaints, and collection of evidence so it stands up in court, the conduct of staff-student relationships, and actions to ensure greater safety on campus and in student residences.
These protocols have two key commonalities: they are complainant/survivor-friendly and clarify roles and responsibilities of all the stakeholders involved in a joint, collaborative response to GBV, namely institutional management, academia, transformation/gender officers, security and other staff, student formations and policing and justice agencies.
Deputy Minister Manamela will be joined by Mr John Jeffrey, Deputy Minister Justice and Correctional Services, Mr Cassel Charlie Mathale, Deputy Minister of Police.
Members of the media invited as follows:
Date: Thursday, 4 May 2023
Time: 13h00-17h00
Venue: UNISA Bamboo Auditorium, 3rd Floor, Kgorong Building, Muckleneuk Campus, 1 Preller Street, Pretoria
Source: Government of South Africa