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25 November 2020 Photo Anja Aucamp
Prof Colin Chasi outside Centenary Complex (Anja Aucamp)
Prof Colin Chasi is the Director of the Unit for Institutional Change and Social Justice at the UFS.
The 2020 programme around the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence will be novel in that it will be run online. “For each person to register and log into the various programmes is a small step. But each such step makes a big difference by saying that the lives of survivors matter and by underscoring that gender-based violence will not be tolerated at the UFS,” says Prof Colin Chasi, Director of the Unit for Institutional Change and Social Justice (UICSJ) at the UFS.

Women and girl children have experienced increased violence in the time of the COVID-19 lockdown, states the UN Secretary General's report, Shared Responsibility, Global Solidarity: Responding to the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19. In South Africa, there have been reports of a scourge of rape in the post-school education and training sector. At the UFS, these developments have challenged the Gender Equity and Anti-Discrimination Office (GEADO) to come up with innovative online interventions.

In 2019, the University of the Free State (UFS) established the Unit for Institutional Change and Social Justice (formerly known as the Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice, founded in 2009). The GEADO was launched on 8 April 2019 and was incorporated into the unit to run a cross-functional Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) and to organise programmes that combat gender-based violence and other forms of gender injustice.

“We have been able to offer our services with minimal disruption throughout the year,” says Geraldine Lengau, a Bloemfontein Campus-based GEADO officer.

“Most exciting for us is that we have taken the lockdown as an opportunity to expand the scope of ways in which we engage with students and communities,” notes Chelepe Mocwana, a GEADO officer on the South Campus. “GEADO has offered a number of online webinars and seminars, and the university has made telephonic services available that support, for example, the mental health of survivors of sexual violence.”

“On the Qwaqwa Campus, where we still have some problems with consistent access to data networks, we were pleased to see that our webinars have been well-subscribed to by students and staff members,” reports Siya Magayana, who is the GEADO officer on this campus.

“Each such step makes a big difference by saying that the
lives of survivors matter and by underscoring that
gender-based violence will not be tolerated at the UFS.”
—Prof Colin Chasi, Director of the UICSJ.

Since 1991, activists around the world have annually coordinated activities around the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence. The 16 days of activism begin on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and run until 10 December, which is International Human Rights Day. The start and end dates signify that the fight to eliminate violence against women advances human rights for all.

Activities to mark the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence will be advertised on various UFS communication platforms.

News Archive

State of our campuses: UFS campuses closed until Friday 23 September 2016
2016-09-20

After careful assessment of the situation on the Bloemfontein, Qwaqwa, and South Campuses of the University of the Free State (UFS), and engagement with the Student Representative Council (SRC), the senior leadership decided this morning to close all its campuses until Friday 23 September 2016.

All academic and administrative services on the three campuses have therefore been suspended and will resume again on Monday 26 September 2016. This means that no academic and administrative services will be available and no lectures and/or tests will take place on the three campuses for the rest of the week.

This decision was made after all academic activities were suspended on the Bloemfontein Campus yesterday afternoon because of a growing unease and disruption of some academic activities by groups of students, resulting from yesterday morning’s announcement on tuition fees by the Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Blade Nzimande. Although the university management is in favour of peaceful protests, it condemns these disruptions, especially as it took place during an important time in the academic calendar.

The decision to suspend academic and administrative services for the rest of this week was taken with caution, as it will ensure the safety of staff, students, and university property. It will also assist the university management in maintaining stability on the campuses.

Adjustments will be made to the teaching calendar, and students are requested to obtain this information from their respective faculties. No student will be disadvantaged in terms of tests or assignments as a result of the unfortunate closure of the university for the rest of the week.

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