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21 July 2020 | Story Nitha Ramnath | Photo istock
Date: 28 July 2020
Time: 14:00 – 15:30

Gender inequalities domestic violence and gender-based violence (GBV) are global concerns, and have been exacerbated by the impact of Covid-19 as women take on more child and care work responsibilities.  Jobs lost in service sectors often affect women most, large numbers of frontline health workers and teachers are women, and lockdowns increase domestic violence. Thus President Cyril Ramaphosa recently said in a televised address that more than 21 women and children have been murdered in South Africa within just a few weeks in what he referred to as “another pandemic raging in our country.” He said this “violence being unleashed on women and children with a brutality that defies comprehension, is no less than a war being waged against the women and children of our country”.

As the World Economic Forum points out, regardless of where one looks, it is women who bear most of the responsibility for holding societies together, be it at home, in health care, at school, or in caring for the elderly. In many countries, women perform these tasks without pay. 

Now, the Covid-19 pandemic is compounding existing gender inequalities, and increasing risks of gender-based violence. Gender inequality, layered along with the effects of the pandemic, lockdowns and the economic downturn, could leave a deep and lasting impact on the lives and opportunities of women and girls.

Given, then, that the COVID-19 crisis affects women and girls in different ways from men and boys, measures to resolve it must take gender into account, and the protection and promotion of the rights of women and girls prioritized. 
To take up these issues of gender inequalities and gender-based violence, two renowned gender research experts will take part in our webinar. The webinar will be chaired by Professor Melanie Walker of the University of the Free State.  The presenters are: Professor Pumla Gqola, Professor of Women and Gender Studies at Nelson Mandela University and author of Rape: A South African Nightmare. Lisa Vetten has worked in the field of violence against women for over two decades as a counsellor, para-legal, trainer and researcher. She is currently an honorary research associate at the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research (WiSER).

Join us from 14:00 to 15:30 on 28 July. 

RSVP to Sibongile Mlotya at MlotyaS@ufs.ac.za no later than 26 July, upon which you will receive a Business for Skype meeting invite.

News Archive

South Africa praised for dealing with its history
2012-07-12

“I listened to an incredible conversation on how South Africans can talk about the past. We failed to do that in the US. We cannot move on because we failed to name the ghosts in our past. I am honouring what South Africa is doing.”

These are the words of a staff delegate from a university in the USA in a case study at the Global Leadership Summit led by Prof. André Keet, Director of the International Institute for Studies in Race, Reconciliation and Social Justice at the University of the Free State (UFS).

Students and academics from universities in the USA, Belgium, the Netherlands and Japan are attending a Global Leadership Summit with the theme “Transcending Boundaries in Global Change Leadership” at the UFS.

In the case study, symbols on the Bloemfontein Campus such as the MT Steyn Statue, Justitia symbol of justice at the building of the Faculty of Law, the artwork Van hier tot daar, and the Women’s Memorial were presented to the audience and the question was asked if they had to be removed or if they had to remain.

Students overwhelmingly felt that symbols of the past had to remain. Here are some of the comments:

  • “Without our past we would not be here today. Without the past, we would not know why we are here or where we are going.”
  • “It is important for students that it remains on campus, as a reminder that history must not repeat itself.”
  • “There is room for new symbols. We must look back but must also look at the future.”
  • “We must resolve the problems of the past and move on.”
  • “We must remember that we cannot go back there again. We must not take away part of other people’s history.”
  • “Symbols must be contextualised.”
  •  “Don’t look in the rear mirror, but through the windscreen where you are going. The windscreen is far bigger.”

One student said the statute of MT Steyn filled him with anger.

Prof. Keet said the act of running away from the ghosts of the past was a way to keep those ghosts alive. The past cannot be dealt with, only visited. The ghosts connect people with the past and allow the past to be present in the now.
 

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