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Tackling gender inequality and discrimination

31 July 2023 | Story Valentino Ndaba

The Gender Equality and Anti-Discrimination Office (GEADO) is an integral part of the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Unit for Institutional Change and Social Justice. Its primary focus is to create a safe and inclusive environment for students and staff. The office plays a crucial role in shaping the student experience and in fostering inclusivity in student accommodation and residence environments.

The GEADO takes proactive steps to achieve this, including implementing guidelines and policies to address and prevent gender-based violence and sexual misconduct. It also conducts conscientisation workshops to raise awareness, challenge biases, and promote empathy among stakeholders.

“As an integral component of our initiatives, the GEADO implements proactive measures to foster safe spaces for students, through the establishment of its Sexual Offence Response Team (SORT) and sexual harassment guidelines,” said Dr Lentsu Nchabeleng, Deputy Director of the Gender Equality and Anti-Discrimination Office. She further emphasised, “These frameworks are formulated to tackle and prevent occurrences of gender-based violence and sexual misconduct, ensuring a secure, healthy, and conducive environment for both students and staff to flourish and develop as individuals and as a community.” The GEADO is currently reviewing the UFS Sexual Harassment, Sexual Misconduct, and Sexual Violence Policy to strengthen its commitment to a zero-tolerance stance on gender-based violence and sexual misconduct.

Beyond addressing specific incidents, the GEADO aims to cultivate an inclusive and socially just atmosphere across the UFS’s campuses. It closely monitors the environment, identifies trends, and stays updated on global and local interventions to positively impact its work.

The office is a driving force behind fostering a safe, inclusive, and socially just campus culture that embraces gender equality and combats discrimination. It partners with LGBTIAQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, asexual, queer, and others) organisations like Free State Rainbow Seeds to further support its mission. Some of the programmes championed by the office include safety zone training, sexuality sensitisation, and diversity training.

Safe zone training

The Safe Zones@UFS project is modelled after a similar programme in the USA, specifically the Safe Zones Project at San Diego State University. Its purpose is to create a supportive and safe environment for individuals who identify as LGBTIAQ+.

Dr Nchabeleng said the project encompasses the training of faculty members and students to become Safe Zones allies, offering support to students, staff, as well as families and friends of individuals identifying as LGBTIAQ+. She emphasised that the role of Safe Zone allies involves providing assistance to LGBTIAQ+ students and staff during their coming-out process, serving as an informative resource for LGBTIAQ+ matters, advocating for LGBTIAQ+ rights, and acting as a referral point for other essential services, including medical and counselling support.

Sexuality sensitisation

Gender and sexuality sensitisation is crucial for fostering inclusive and respectful environments in educational institutions, workplaces, and communities. It involves raising awareness about consent, sexual minorities, and diverse gender identities, while addressing gender-based violence, sexual harassment, and misconduct. The approach includes consent education, understanding sexual minorities, exploring gender identities, combating gender-based violence and harassment, promoting safe spaces, challenging stereotypes, encouraging allyship, and promoting positive masculinity and femininity. Overall, these efforts create a more understanding and supportive community in which individuals of all genders and sexual orientations can thrive.

Diversity Training

The Diversity Training programme focuses on increasing awareness and understanding of diverse backgrounds and experiences. It includes workshops and training to address unconscious bias, promoting a fair and equitable environment. The goal is to create a sense of belonging, where everyone feels accepted and valued. The programme is flexible and can be customised for organisations or communities, and it can be delivered through various formats. Embracing diversity and inclusion can lead to better outcomes, improved teamwork, and the attracting of diverse talent. Overall, it fosters a culture of inclusivity and appreciation for diverse perspectives, benefitting both individuals and organisations.

Important contact information

Bloemfontein Campus: +27 51 401 3982

South Campus: +27 51 401 7544

Qwaqwa Campus: +27 58 718 5431

Toll-free number +27 80 020 4682

News Archive

Three receive PhD degrees in Architecture at Winter Graduation ceremony

2015-07-08

Dr Hendrik Auret, Dr Gerhard Bosman and Dr Madelein Stoffberg.
Photo: Leonie Bolleurs

Video: Winter graduation ceremony

Three graduates from the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Department of Architecture received their PhD degrees at the 2015 Winter Graduation ceremony on the Bloemfontein Campus. According to Prof Walter Peters from Architecture, this is the first time in the history of the UFS that three PhD degrees in Architecture have been awarded simultaneously. It is country-wide a rare occurrence for three PhDs to be awarded in Architecture at one graduation ceremony.

“Previously, the UFS has only ever awarded a single PhD in Architecture, and that was in 1987, to Leon Roodt, a former head of the department. The first UFS honorary doctorate in Architecture was conferred on Gerard Moerdijk, architect of the Afrikaner church and the Voortrekker Monument. Gawie Fagan and Prof Bannie Britz, late head of the Department of Architecture, were other recipients of an honorary doctorate in Architecture,” said Prof Peters.

At the 2015 Winter Graduation ceremony, the UFS conferred PhDs in Architecture on Hendrik Auret from Roodt Architects in Bloemfontein as well as on Gerhard Bosman, and Madelein Stoffberg from the UFS Department of Architecture.

Dr Hendrik Auret

As an Architecture student at the university, Dr Auret obtained the degree BArchStud in 2004, a BArchStud (Hons) in 2005, and a March (Prof) in 2006, all cum laude. His Master’s design dissertation was judged the best from all South African Architecture learning sites, earning him the coveted ‘Corobrik Architectural Student of the Year’ award.

The work of the Norwegian architect and theorist, Christian Norberg-Schulz, served as the basis of Dr Auret’s PhD thesis, Care, place and architecture: a critical reading of Christian Norberg-Schulz’s architectural interpretation of Martin Heidegger’s philosophy, which considered the cogency of Norberg-Schulz’s architectural ‘translation’ of the German philosopher Heidegger’s thinking.

Dr Gerhard Bosman

On obtaining his BArchStud. and BArch degrees at the university in 1993 and 1995 respectively, Dr Bosman immediately joined the part-time staff of the Department of Architecture. As a lecturer in Building Construction, he developed an interest in vernacular and indigenous methods and techniques. Consequently, he built the first family home in Bloemfontein, for his wife, Debbie, and their two children, of earth construction, which been previously but erroneously considered inferior.

Despite that negative perception, Dr Bosman persuade the university to allow him to undertake post-graduate studies at the International Center for Earth Architecture (CRATerre-ENSAG) within the Ecole d' Architecture de Grenoble, France, from which institution,he was awarded the DPEA-Architecture de Terre qualification in 2000. In 2001,Dr Bosman was appointed to the full-time staff.

In 2003, when the opportunity arose, he became involved with SANPAD, the South Africa-Netherlands Research Project on Alternatives in Development, which lead ultimately to his PhD thesis: The acceptability of earth-constructed houses in central areas of South Africa.

Dr Madelein Stoffberg

In 2005, Dr Stoffberg enrolled as an Architecture student at the UFS, obtaining her BArchStud degree in 2007, the BArchStud (Hons) in 2008 and the March (Prof) in 2009, the latter cum laude. Immediately on graduating, Dr Stoffberg was appointed to her position as a part-time junior lecturer in the Department of Architecture.

During her studies, her attention was drawn to the concept of the spatial triad of Henri Lefebvre. Fascinated with the conceptand by the development of community centres as a contemporary architectural typology, she began her PhD degree.

Entitled Lived reality, perception and architecture: two community centres interrogated through the lens of Lefebvre’s spatial triad, Dr Stoffberg investigated the relationship between the spatial understanding of the project architect and the community of two completed buildings in Port Elizabeth. She established a mismatch in perception, representation, and use of space, which could be bridged, however, by way of a qualitative research approach, instead of a quantitative one.

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