At Majuba, the work begins with what students know when they arrive at college. Challenge strategist, Sicelo Sibiya says some students have had little access to information about the different forms GBVF can take, and because many do not understand how to identify GBV, they do not report – whether they experience GBV as a victim or a bystander.
How access to information can lead to reporting
Many students come from deep rural communities where information may be harder to access. Some understand GBVF mainly through the forms of violence discussed most often in public. Sicelo gave the example of bullying, which students may experience without connecting it to wider conversations about GBV.
The words available to people can influence how they interpret their own experiences. Someone may know that an interaction is frightening, degrading or wrong without knowing how to describe it. That uncertainty can continue when they begin asking other questions. Was this GBVF? Can I report it? Who do I speak to? What happens after I tell someone?
The Majuba teams want students and staff to better understand the different ways GBVF can be experienced, as well as the procedures for reporting and the support available afterwards. Their plans include campus and community awareness marches, dialogues with women and men and the collection of toiletries and clothing for survivors.
Activities planned over the next 100-Days
Every Monday, staff dress in black to express solidarity with survivors. On 24 July, male staff are expected to march to the South African Police Service under the theme “GBV affects us all”. The march will be followed by conversations with men about the issues affecting them.
Sicelo is particularly encouraged by the opportunity to involve more men. He hopes the programme will invite them to think more deeply about their role in workplaces, homes, communities and classrooms.
His greatest concern is whether people will speak. As the team’s Data Guru, Sicelo is responsible for tracking progress, yet he knows that data depends on what people are willing and able to disclose.
Majuba’s 100-Day Challenge therefore raises a deeper question about awareness. A person can live through an experience long before they have the words to understand it. Learning about GBVF may give new meaning to something that has already happened. What comes next depends on whether that person knows where to turn and believes that speaking will lead to a meaningful response.
Majuba TVET College