Creating a UCT community of support towards reducing GBV

Building upon the university’s existing response and support vehicles for those affected by gender-based violence (GBV), the Office for Inclusivity & Change (OIC) ran a first-responder workshop in collaboration with the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Rape Crisis, to train and equip those students, student advisors or staff who, due to their caring nature, have become trusted confidantes of survivors of GBV. The workshop took place on 15 August.

“The workshop was the outcome of identification of need. We know that there are those staff members who are already offering compassionate care and support to survivors of GBV, and we wanted to capacitate them with the skills needed to help contain GBV and refer survivors to support services on campus or to external services at UCT,” said Dr Sianne Alves, the director of the OIC.

“Drawing on learnings from the 2023 Gender-Based Violence seminar, led by Dr Leigh-Ann Naidoo, Mosaic and Reclaim the City, we wanted to capacitate and strengthen community cohesion within UCT as a mechanism to reduce sexual violence and GBV.”

Creating a community of support

The objectives of the three-day Gender Advisor Workshop were twofold. The first aimed to seed a community of well-equipped, co-supporting first responders. The second was to build skills around support, referral and containment through training.

The workshop participants were joined by Professor Elelwani Ramugondo, UCT’s deputy vice-chancellor for Transformation, Student Affairs and Social Responsiveness, who acknowledged their role in providing a supportive space for students and staff in need.

While commenting on the role that the sisterhood plays in nurturing the vulnerable, Professor Ramugondo called upon men to create similar, male-led spaces for involvement and intervention.

Janet Butler, administrative assistant, Shared Services at UCT Libraries, said: “I am most grateful for the opportunity to have taken part in the gender advisor training. This information is pertinent to everyday life, and even if we think we know most of what is involved regarding gender advice, there is always something we might not know.”

An opportunity to speak out, Butler described the gender advisor training as offering a holistic, balanced approach, which served to benefit both survivor and responder.

“I feel comfortable now that I have had the training and can really make a difference in someone’s life when I am needed to assist staff or student. Thank you OIC UCT.”

Sites of knowledge, support and referral

A fundamental motivation behind the workshop was that the cohort would become a community practice, offering mutual support and assistance to each other, as responders, around cases and how they approach them.

“The response has been quite profound,” Dr Alves said. “The 15 participants were a diverse cohort of administrators, lecturers and student advisors who are already sites of support to students and staff. For these staff members, supporting the UCT community is a calling, not a job, and a gift to UCT.

“By building a strong, cohesive community that prevents and responds to GBV, UCT has a chance of reducing the prevalence of GBV over time.”

The UCT Online Case Report and Support Tool

Birthed in 2018, and supported by the Vice Chancellor’s Strategic Fund, the Online Case Report and Support Tool was designed to respond to the needs of survivors within the UCT community.

What UCT survivors requested was the facility to report anonymously, while retaining the ability to track a case within the university system, so that at any point in time survivors could access their own data and increase their agency in the reporting and justice-seeking processes.

“With other apps, it is not easy to report and interact anonymously. We wanted to make sure a survivor would always have access to support, without having to give their name, cell-phone number or email address,” said Alves.

“Some 80% of our requests for support arrive via this tool. While some enquiries may start anonymously, often survivors gain confidence, when connecting with Yumna Seadat, the UCT specialist in survivor support, and are soon communicating with ease with her.”

Other useful info

• Campus Protection Services (CPS) can be telephoned tollfree – you don’t need airtime – on 080 650 2222 (or 2222 on a UCT landline). Press 1 to report GBV and to activate a support response from the OIC.
• Emergency response route Be aware of the Blue-Light Route between upper and middle campus with its flashing bollards.
• If you are on campus after dark and feel unsafe, you can contact CPS to escort you to your campus or student housing destination.