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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

UFS the only university in South Africa with a P-rated history researcher

2016-12-13

Dr Daniel Spence has been earmarked by the NRF
to become a future international leader in his field
of expertise.
Photo: Supplied

The University of the Free State (UFS) is the only university in South Africa with a P-rated History researcher. Dr Daniel Spence, a postdoctoral Research Fellow at the International Studies Group (IGS), and a member of the Vice-Chancellor’s Prestige Scholar’s Programme at the UFS, was last week awarded a National Research Foundation P-rating by the National Research Foundation (NRF). Dr Spence is the first South African historian to achieve this honour.

Leader of the pack
P-ratings are given to young researchers, usually under the age of 35, who have the potential to become leaders in their field. Researchers in this group are recognised by all, or the overwhelming majority of, reviewers as having demonstrated the potential to become future international leaders.

The rating is awarded on the basis of exceptional research performance and output from their doctoral and early postdoctoral research careers.

Other researchers from the UFS who obtained P-ratings in the past, are Prof Lodewyk Kock (1986), Prof Zakkie Pretorius (1989), and Prof Robert Schall (1991).

Extraordinary achievement lauded
“It is an extraordinary achievement. There are fewer P-ratings, than there are A-ratings,” said Prof Neil Roos, associate professor at the ISG. Prof Roos said the P-rating was seldom awarded to researchers within the field of Humanities.

As a member of the ISG, Dr Spence’s research has flourished under the guidance of Prof Ian Phimister. Much of the success of this group is due to the way it operates as an incubator for high-level research, with scholars collaborating with each other.

In addition to Dr Spence’s magnificent P-rating, the ISG currently has three C1-rated researchers (established researchers with a sustained recent record of productivity in their field) and two Y1-rated researchers (researchers 40 years old or younger, who are recognised by all reviewers as having the potential to establish themselves as future leaders in their fields).

“From the time Dr Spence wrote his doctoral thesis on the colonial history of the Royal Navy, he has expanded his field of expertise so that he can address imperial and global histories of race,” said Prof Roos.

Demonstrated research excellence
Dr Spence secured a postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the UFS to develop an African case study to augment his Asian and Caribbean research thesis into a monograph. In March 2013, Dr Spence won a three-year NRF Postdoctoral Innovation Scholarship, and learned Kiswahili ahead of archival research in Kenya and Tanzania from April to May of that year. He has conducted archival and oral research in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Australia, Kenya, Zanzibar, the Cayman Islands, Trinidad, and the UK.

Internationally renowned
Dr Spence is the author of two monographies, the Colonial Naval culture and British imperialism, 1922-67 and A History of the Royal Navy: Empire and Imperialism. He has been invited to present papers and chair panels at over 20 international conferences, workshops and seminars.

The NRF rating system is a benchmarking system through which individuals who exemplify the highest standards of research, as well as those demonstrating strong potential as researchers, are identified by an extensive network of South African and international peer reviewers.

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