HE gender-based violence plan – Milestone or ‘soft nudge’?

Efforts to end the scourge of gender-based violence (GBV) at institutions of higher education in South Africa have often been marred by inefficient coordination and inadequate budget provisions. A new policy framework developed by the Department of Higher Education and Training now compels higher education institutions to take GBV more seriously.

The recently launched Policy Framework to Address Gender-based Violence in the Post-School Education and Training System requires all higher education institutions to have GBV policies in place by the end of 2022, to create awareness of such policies, and appoint structures to oversee and support the implementation of such policies.

Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister Blade Nzimande said the framework illustrates the commitment of the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) to build an inclusive and diversified post-school education and training system where all citizens have equal access to quality education and training opportunities in a safe environment.

The problem of GBV in universities spans several years, with student protests over the issue at universities such as Rhodes, Cape Town, Nelson Mandela, Witwatersrand and Tshwane dating back to 2016. As the framework document notes, universities as a whole do not have in place systems to collect GBV and rape statistics, so even assessing the true scale of the problem is difficult.

Policy milestone

Dr Ramneek Ahluwalia, CEO of Higher Health, an agency of the DHET focused on addressing a range of health, wellness and developmental challenges facing students (formerly the Higher Education and Training HIV/AIDS Programme), said the framework marked the first time in Africa that a department of higher education had taken note of gender-based violence in the form of policy.

“It pushes all leadership, vice-chancellors and principals to act in preventing gender-based violence,” he said in an interview last week.

Higher Health has been involved since 2016 in the research, conceptualisation and development of the strategy and framework, and in consultations across all institutions. The organisation is now set to assist in the implementation of the framework and assist institutions to develop their own policies.

“We expect accountability as institutions will now be required to have mechanisms to monitor and report gender-based violence,” said Ahluwalia. He said Higher Health will help institutions to build capacity to monitor violence through frontline staff as well as among student bodies.

One of the support measures includes a GBV-focused curriculum, already operating at institutions, during which students are sensitised about gender-based violence. This includes screening to self-identify if one was a perpetrator of gender violence so that they can seek help. A 24-hour helpline would be established.

Defining GBV

The framework defines GBV widely, and includes the “rating of appearance through verbal comment, wolf-whistling and other noises”. It also includes stalking and repeated, unwanted requests for dates; derogatory comments, including in relation to people’s gender non-conformity; and the use of work (either academic or administrative) as an excuse for inappropriate and private meetings.

It also includes cyber-bullying; physical assaults against individuals perceived as gender-non-conforming; requests or demands for sex in exchange for improved marks, accommodation in residences, or other needs and benefits; spying or intruding upon women and men in residences while they are bathing or dressing; streaking and flashing. In the case of abusive relationships, it includes “preventing or interfering with a partner’s studies, including by withholding financial support for studies”.

Lisa Vetten, a South African gender activist and researcher who has worked in the field of violence against women in a variety of capacities for over 20 years, says the GBV framework is a good development, but said it should be noted that the discussion has been going on at different universities over the past 22 years.

“In that period some universities have developed their own policies, history, skills and documents that are useful,” she said. “This policy does not trace the differences or set the standards so high but it is very good in that for the first time it is effectively making it a norm for collecting information on gender-based violence for all 26 universities and meeting common standards,” Vetten told University World News.

Budgetary concerns

Vetten said minimum standards for fighting GBV gives some direction to addressing the culture in which it thrives and committing institutions to taking action. “All universities have to act on that framework, but we would like to see what kind of a budget will be offered to institutions to implement it,” she said.

For Nombulelo Shange, a lecturer in the department of sociology at the University of the Free State, the framework is also a “good first step”, but might be out of step with university experiences and structures. While it is understandable that a policy needs to be broad, so as to reduce the risk of isolating certain institutions that might not fit into the frameworks, issues like GBV were “systemic and are perpetuated by intersecting structural policies and practice”, she said.

“If you want to end GBV on campus, you have to rethink everything, which is what the #FeesMustFall movement called for: revolution over reform and a reimagining of everything because the systems are interwoven,” Shange told University World News.

“#FeesMustFall weaved together challenges and struggles. The success of this framework hinges on something like the issue of outsourcing,” she said. A student is raped or assaulted on campus. The first people the student deals with are campus protection or security guards who lack the skills and gender sensitivity to deal with such an issue. The case hardly gets resolved because from the moment it happens, it is dealt with poorly and the student might get re-victimized because they were drunk or dressed a certain way,” she said.

Shange said students on campus have been calling for the proper training of university staff dealing with these issues, but most of these staff members comprise outsourced security personnel. “It doesn’t make sense to train outsourced security who might be gone in a year, when new contracts get awarded to a new service provider who will hire new security staff,” she argued.

Broader context

While she applauded the DHET for drafting the policy and setting up a reporting structure for each university and the undertaking to provide support, she said overall the policy framework is not enough because universities exist within a broader – and flawed – national context.

If those national systems are not strong then “positive efforts made in the post-school space will also be weakened”, she said. “Some of the greater national issues are stressed healthcare systems that cannot adequately deal with post-rape care due to lack of sensitivity training, lack of resources, systems working in silos and a big disconnect between police services and healthcare systems.”

In addition, Shange said the policy development sections of the framework suggest there was no student involvement. “A policy of this magnitude needs the active participation of student structures from its inception because this is their lived reality and they are best suited to speak to them. Even the best minds and structures can’t represent the needs of the students,” she said.

Shange said the policy was another “top-down” exercise that looked great on paper but might not translate into practice. She questioned whether a university is the best structure to deal with gender-based violence in the event that the perpetrator is a lecturer, professor or someone in a position of power when evidence suggests that in these cases, the institution often protects its own interests and reputation over those of the students.

“Unfortunately, this GBV policy as it stands is a soft nudge which doesn’t have strong measures showing how it will limit this kind of abuse of power from happening in the future,” she said.