DUT RAISES AWARENESS ON GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE

DUT students in the silent protest against Gender-Based Violence at Ritson Campus. Picture by: Sibonginkosi Mabika

Nokwanda Ncwane

Hundreds of students from the Durban University of Technology gathered at the Ritson Campus to take part in the silent protest against Gender-Based Violence on Wednesday, 21 August 2019.

Before the protest, there was a dialogue and a Q&A session about Gender-Based Violence. There was a gloomy and tense atmosphere as victims shared their stories of the various forms of abuse they have been subjected to.

Zola Mdlalose an HIV/AIDS Counsellor who facilitated the dialogue session said "The aim of the protest is to allow victims to speak up about what they're going through, to let them know about facilities they can utilise in order to get through their painful experiences,"
"Because our facilities are limited, if we can't help the victims we refer them to Psychiatrists in the Addington, King Edward Hospital and crisis centres in Durban," the Winterton Residence Ambassador added.

Mandisa Khwela, a UKZN student said we often encourage women to stand up for themselves and walk out of abusive relationships but the moment they do, they're brutally murdered by their partners. "The law enforcement agencies have blood on their hands because they only take action once a person has been killed. A protection order is just a piece of paper, it doesn't do anything to protect the victim from the perpetrator,"

"We as members of the LGBTI+ community are abused by heterosexual people who throw homophobic comments and subject us to corrective rape. At the end of the day, sexual orientation does not define an individual," she continued to say.

"I gained a lot today and also saw that a lot more needs to be done to educate society about Gender-Based Violence. We need to create safe spaces for people to share their stories," said Sondelani Mwandla, a DUT student.

The protest was hosted by the university's HIV/AIDS Centre and the Student Counselling and Health department. The protest was within the Ritson Campus.