DUT silent protest tackles gender-based violence

The Durban University of Technology’s (DUT’s) HIV/AIDS Centre hosted its annual Silent Protest on Wednesday, 03 October to raise awareness on the escalating epidemic of Gender-Based Violence (GBV).

The DUT Silent Protest provided students with an opportunity to raise awareness and show support to the survivors of gender-based violence.

Delivering his message of support at DUT Ritson Campus, DUT Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Professor Thandwa Mthembu expressed his concerns on South Africa’s democracy, describing it as promoting violence in society.

“Our democracy that is based on the constitution, and hailed by the rest of the world, is a democracy of violence. It is a democracy of violence in a sense that anybody who has an issue with anything in this country has to demonstrate their anger, their dissatisfaction, and their concerns through violence.  Violence in this country has become second to nature and I think we all need to work together to ensure that our good democracy is not spoilt by this culture of violence that we have,” said Prof Mthembu.

Mthembu further said he would have loved to see more men partaking during the awareness since they are the common perpetrators of violence. “I wish that we look into other ways of appealing and engaging with the young men that we have at this University that are not here in numbers because it is those young men that we really need to have a chat with,” added Prof Mthembu.

The Chief Executive Officer of Higher Education and Training HIV/Aids (HEAIDS) programme, Dr Ramneek Ahluwalia said society should acknowledge sexual and gender-based violence as epidemics that needs immediate intervention while providing some shocking statistics on higher education’s standing on cases relating to sexual violence.

“10% of total rapes in South Africa come from higher education institutions alone. We have a problem.  It is not us, this data is provided by the South African Medical Research Council. We have a problem when transactional sex, which is another form of sexual violence, is very high at institutions of higher learning,” said Dr Ahluwalia.

Dr David Mohale, Director: Special Projects in the Office of the Vice Chancellor appealed to students to speak out and seek assistance if they experience any form of abuse.

“I want to make an appeal to you as young women that there is no amount of anger that can justify your partner raising his hand against you. If he can do it for the first time, he will do it for the second time,” said Dr Mohale.

“Additionally, for those of us who are raising girl children, we have every reason to worry about the kind of men we have in our societies. It is in the interest of everyone else that we put together our minds and work together to ensure that we put an end to this situation,” added Dr Mohale.

The Silent Protest also provided survivors of sexual and physical violence with a chance to share their experiences of gender-based violence. This was done after a discussion session among groups. This session was facilitated by Civil Society Chairperson, Siyabonga Nzimande. As a rape survivor himself during his teenage years, Nzimande encouraged students to continue the fight against gender-based violence.

The Silent Protest March began at Steve Biko Road, went through Winterton Road and Ritson Road, before closing off at DUT Ritson Campus.

Pictured: DUT Students during the Silent Protest March on Wednesday, 03 October 2018.

By Sandile Lukhozi

Source Durban University of Technology