A branch of the Department of Higher Education, Innovation and Technology (DHET), known as Higher Health, is working towards combating the escalating situation of Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) on university and college campuses across South Africa.
The increase of GBVF at tertiary institutions across the country is enough to raise concerns.
In partnership with Higher Health, various interventions have been put in place across the country's universities, Technical and Vocational Educational Training (TVET) colleges, as well as Community Education and Training (CET) Colleges.
Higher Health is a national agency that seeks to inspire the success of 2 million students that are currently attending South Africa's 26 universities and 50 TVET colleges, by improving their health and wellbeing.
Some of these interventions include revised protocols that offer training and support for victims, checklists and guidelines for institutions to follow, a range of services available for victims and survivors, and risk prevention self-screening toolkits for students.
Others include a 24-hour toll-free crisis hotline, clinical care for physical injuries sustained as well as for the prevention of pregnancies, STIs and HIV, psycho-social aftercare through professional counsellors and psychologists, and peer support through GBVF support groups.
During Women's Month this past August, the Minister of the DHET, Blade Nzimande, addressed the issue of violence (mainly) aimed at South Africa's female population. His address took place at the Ministerial Higher Health Roundtable on Youth Health and Wellness.
"The post-school education and training sector (PSET) is home to over 2,5 million youth, where more than 51% of these are adolescent girls and young women between the ages of 15 – 24 years old, with statistics from the Medical Research Council (MRC) indicating that 10% of all reported rape cases come from the higher education sector," said the Minister.
Young women are under the threat of Gender-Based Violence and Femicide while attending colleges and universities. Female students fall directly under this 10%, and run the risk of experiencing sexual violence (and other forms of GBV) while on campus, often at the hands of their male peers.
According to Statistics South Africa, nearly 50% of GBV assaults are committed by someone close such as a friend or acquaintance (22%), spouse or intimate partner (15%), or a relative or household member (13%); and only 29% are committed by a complete stranger.
Although women have gained more access to opportunities for education, the fear and danger of experiencing assault and violence stays with them as they venture into higher education.
Higher Health has also launched a co/extra-mural-curriculum on Civil Education, that offers a module on GBVF, Gender Equality and Gender Diversity; the aim is to reach out to communities, provide education and break the stigmas surrounding GBVF.
GBVF runs rampant in South Africa, with the country even earning the title of being the "rape capital of the world" by Interpol.
President Cyril Ramaphosa declared GBV against the country's female population a "second pandemic" in 2020, noting that it needed to be taken as seriously as the coronavirus.
