“Gender
equality is NOT ONLY a women’s issue; it is everyone’s issue and a human rights issue.” (Gillard J.2019)
GENERATION EQUALITYWEBINAR TOENHANCE ‘ONENESS’AND ‘SMARTNESS’
Gender equality is NOT ONLY a women’s issue; it is everyone’s issue and a human rights issue.
(Gillard J.2019)
26 AUGUST 2021
MODERATOR
Ms Brightness Mangolothi
Director: HERS-SA
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A webinar on “Generation Equality to enhance ‘oneness’ and ‘smartness’” was held on 26 August 2021 as part of a Transformation Seminar Series organised by the university.
The meeting was held as the second in a series of virtual meetings which sought to create a space for engagement and critical thinking on the topic of transformation to promote a student-centred environment at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT).
Director: HERS-SA
The webinar was held as CPUT has sought to foster collaboration to implement its new strategy, One Smart Vision 2030. This strategy has emphasised the importance of fostering an institutional culture of ubunye – that is, the value of “oneness” – while gaining an edge for the university in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) through the value of “smartness”. The new vision is informed by lessons learned from the previous strategic plan, in particular the need to place greater emphasis on the role played by people in the discourse on technology.
Prof Chris Nhlapo Vice-Chancellor: CPUT
It is crucial that women’s rights, including their right to be free from violence as a human right, are upheld at CPUT without fear or favour. Gender equality must be the norm.
The virtual meeting considered the values of oneness and smartness in relation to CPUT’s collaboration with the United Nations (UN) in support of the world body’s Generation Equality initiative, which aims to accelerate equality, leadership and opportunity for women and girls worldwide in line with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 on Gender Equality which was established at the UN in 2015.
The key objectives of the webinar were:
• To share and discuss partnerships on gender-based violence (GBV), gender research and other initiatives;
• To unpack stakeholders’ roles on gender equality and women’s empowerment; and
• To encourage gender responsiveness in administration, support and academic programmes for a safe and inclusive studentcentred environment.
The One Smart Vision 2030 adopted by CPUT cannot be realised if women staff and students are living in fear, afraid to walk back from lecture theatres, libraries and gyms late at night; if the men in the institution remain trapped within a toxic, oppressive paradigm for masculinity; and if gender inequality reigns on the campus.
Gender-based violence is a second pandemic facing the country under Covid-19. It is no social-media concoction but a deadly wave of violence which is claiming lives. Each woman who is killed is someone’s daughter. As the Vice-Chancellor at the University Fort Hare, Professor Sakhela Buhlungu, recently proclaimed following the death of student Nosicelo Mtebeni on the streets of East London in August 2020: “Enough is enough.”
At the same time, it is as if the brutality seems to escalate each year around the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children Campaign which starts in November, just as awareness is being raised about the impacts of GBV and men are recommitting to treating their female peers as equals.
Against this background. it is crucial that women’s rights, including their right to be free from violence as a human right, are upheld at CPUT without fear or favour. Gender equality must be the norm. Men and women must be able to access opportunities on an equal basis and enjoy equal recognition and rewards for work of equal value. There must be equality in the classroom, boardroom and professoriate. All violence against women and children must be opposed. In the spirit of oneness (ubunye), if staff or students at CPUT remain silent about violence against women, or against anyone on the grounds of their sexuality or gender, they are guilty of complicity. This is a crucial aspect of the university’s drive to promote the idea that the members of the institution are united by their shared humanity (ubuntu).
Meaningful partnerships are necessary in order to produce effective efforts to break the vicious cycle of GBV and to change negative habits and ways of thinking. The required attitudinal seachange in society cannot be achieved by working in isolation.
In this regard, the partnership between CPUT’s Transformation, Diversity and Social Cohesion Unit and UN Women’s South Africa MultiCountry Office has helped the university to develop important projects on gender equality and women’s empowerment, including in relation to supporting transformation at the university and among local communities. Together, the two offices have established a think-tank on gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Building on this collaboration, the university’s vice-chancellor, Professor Chris Nhlapo, was among the first senior figures in South Africa to pledge support for the HeForShe programme which was launched globally by UN Women to engage men in promoting women’s empowerment and an end to GBV. In a further sign of the institution’s commitment, a high-level committee on GBV, chaired by the vice-chancellor was recently established; and all members of the university’s executive have undergone training on the issue under the auspices of the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET).
Prof Driekie Hay-Swemmer
Executive Director: Office of the Vice-Chancellor
2 This section is based on remarks made by Professor Driekie Hay-Swemmer, Executive Director, Office of the Vice Chancellor, CPUT.
After Prof Nhlapo signed the HeForShe pledge in 2018, the programme was adopted by a number of departments, including the Faculty of Business and Management Sciences under Professor Paul Green, who is also the Chair of CPUT’s Institutional Transformation Forum (ITF). The plan now is to roll out the programme across all faculties, units, departments and divisions so that men across the institution are involved. This is crucial to the programme’s success, which depends on men becoming role models for their peers, so that the message can cascade across society. In this regard, it is noteworthy that Tumiso Mfisa, who as the then chairperson of the SRC became involved in the programme in 2019, has continued to act as a champion of HeForShe in his role as a postgraduate student in the business and management sciences faculty and has now joined the vice-chancellor’s office to take the process forward.
In another initiative, the university has established GBV ambassadorships as part of its student mentoring and leadership programme. The aim is to foster promotion of women’s empowerment and gender equality among everyone in the institution including members of the university’s LGBTQIA+ community.
In relation to research, a number of studies relating to gender equality and empowerment have been launched; and the hope is that, one day, a research chair addressing these issues may be established. In the meantime, the university is working to ensure that gender is mainstreamed in its focus research areas.
In this regard, CPUT is also seeking to play a greater role in addressing the underrepresentation of women in science programmes to improve equity in the so-called male-dominated professions which recruit from the university’s pool of graduates. CPUT’s smart engagement with its students must be shaped by principles of gender equality.
In terms of the institution’s community engagement, which is a crucial function of the university, the Transformation, Diversity and Social Cohesion Unit is finalising a project to promote the voices of women in the Western Cape, collecting and writing up their stories.
CPUT believes that, in the words of Afro-American author Maya Angelou, “Each time a woman stands up for herself … she stands up for all women.” In this spirit, it is collaborating with HersSA; the Centre for Family Studies; and the GBV programme at the Centre for Communication Impact (CCI), to make it smarter in its efforts to adopt a student-centred approach to gender-related transformation. The aim is to move beyond merely holding events promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment to mainstreaming gender transformation across all the university’s faculties, departments, units and divisions.
CPUT has made some important strides, but the success of the mission to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment depends on constant awarenessraising; multi-stakeholder engagement; and the continuous provision of not only material but also moral support.
Each time a woman stands up for herself… she stands up for all women.
Angelou
Deputy Representative: UN Women (Multi-country South Africa Office)
South Africa’s women’s month in August is a bitter-sweet commemoration. Although it is held in order to champion women’s rights and promote gender equality and women’s empowerment, it also serves as a reminder of the scale of the outstanding challenge. The statistics on the continuing incidence of GBV, domestic violence and discrimination against women are daunting.
The national effort is supported by UN Women’s South Africa Multi-Country Office, which also covers Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and ESwatini. The office oversees a number of programmes in the region focussing, for example, on women’s economic empowerment, climate-smart agriculture, GBV, women in peace and security, HIV/ Aids and social protection. The unit also supports the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in implementing its gender protocols; and forms part of the larger UN country team, which covers all the important organisational mandates being promoted by the world body in the region.
UN Women itself came into being as an aspect of the collective action among women which emanated from the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995, and the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action agreed at that meeting. The UN subsequently faced serious challenges in its efforts to promote women’s equality globally, including in relation to inadequate funding and the lack of a single recognised body to direct its activities on gender equality issues. In 2010, driven by the voices of civil society and women across the world, the UN General Assembly voted to create an entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women, now familiarly known as UN Women. The establishment of this organisation indicated acknowledgement among the member states of the need to accelerate the world body’s work in this area.
At the international, regional and local levels UN Women employs various key platforms and tools to advocate for gender equality and women’s empowerment, such as the HeForShe programme; women’s empowerment principles commonly known as the WEPs; the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW); and the Unstereotype Alliance. Academia is viewed as a critical partner in endorsing and championing these platforms and tools, particularly in relation to its capacity to foster student involvement in the world body’s campaigns seeking to promote gender equality.
In 2021, UN Women convened a Generation Equality Forum in a bid to accelerate the achievement of gender equality goals across the world. This platform was established in the knowledge that, unless urgent and effective action was taken, these goals were unlikely to be realised on the present trajectory, notwithstanding the commitments made in Beijing and included in the platform of action produced from that conference.
It was revealed this year that the failure to close the gender equality gap and the continuing lack of diversity and inclusion had cost the global economy an estimated $70 trillion since 1990, when economists at the Bank of America started tracking this indicator.3 It was
further noted that it would take another 257 years to close the gender economic gap at the present rate.
In this context, the Generation Equality Forum was established not only to help accelerate achievement of gender equality goals, but also in response to an identified need to connect older and younger generations of women activists in this quest. The initiative comprised two global gatherings for gender equality convened by UN Women and co-hosted by Mexico and France, bringing together a host of stakeholders across the generations,
but with youth at the centre. It started in Mexico City in March 2021 and culminated in Paris in July 2021, when a series of transformative actions to achieve immediate and irreversible progress towards gender equality were agreed.
The Generation Equality Forum has subsequently been leveraged to fuel a powerful, enduring coalition for gender equality which brings together governments, activists, corporations, feminist organisations, youth and allies to achieved transformative change as part of a multi-stakeholder endeavour.
The Forum’s agenda is being implemented through six action coalitions at the global and local levels. These address issues of:
• Economic justice and rights;
• Feminist movements and leadership;
• Gender-based violence;
• Technology and innovation for gender equality;
• Sexual reproductive and bodily autonomy rights; and
• Climate justice.
3 See https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/gender-inequality-has-cost-world-70-tln-since-1990-report/ articleshow/81352405.cms
South Africa has adopted a leadership role through its national Presidency on the two action coalitions concerned with economic justice and rights, and GBV. In particular, the government has committed to support preferential procurement for women-owned businesses, providing an example at both the continental and international levels of one way in which economic justice may be promoted.
Meanwhile, UN Women continues to prioritise its engagement with academia and universities in the quest for gender equality, recognising that universities have the capacity to undertake deeper research in support of evidence-based policies, legislation and reforms to this end.
As part of this engagement, UN Women partnered with CPUT in 2018 through its HeForShe programme. The aim was to find strategic ways in which the conversations within universities and across communities on gender equality and women’s empowerment could be continued and could actually help to produce accelerated and lasting change.
The HeForShe programme itself is a social movement campaign providing a systematic approach and targeted platform through which men and boys may become agents of change for the achievement of gender equality. According to UN Women, achieving gender equality requires an inclusive approach that both recognises the role that men and boys can play as partners for women’s rights and also acknowledges how they stand to benefit from gender equality. The underlying philosophy is that gender inequality harms everyone and is thus not just a women’s issue, but an issue for the whole of humanity.
At the time of the campaign’s launch, the leadership of UN Women emphasised that the campaign was not just about clicking on a website to make an online pledge. Men had to take action; they had to speak out against all forms of discrimination, including sexism; they had to take steps to stop violence against women; they had to refuse to be bystanders; and they had to denounce and reject impunity. Men needed to say “no” to marrying young girls and had to speak out against those who did. Men needed to challenge gender stereotypes; participate equitably in family responsibilities; and be positive role models in their communities and families. Broadly, the campaign sought to activate a new constituency for activism and to take the women’s movement beyond its comfort zones. The steps which were called for then are now also being implemented under the present Generation Equality Forum and action coalitions.
CPUT has established gender equality and women’s empowerment as key transformative imperatives which cut across the university’s One Smart Vision 2030 strategy. In this context, it has established in collaboration with UN Women a thinktank on gender equality and women’s empowerment, as part of its advocacy of the HeForShe programme. The results of this first-of-its-kind initiative, which was conceptualised this year, will be shared with other UN Women offices globally to offer lessons on how this particular form of strategic partnership with academia can accelerate the attainment of gender equality and women’s empowerment goals.
As part of this engagement, UN Women partnered with CPUT in 2018 through its HeForShe programme. The aim was to find strategic ways in which the conversations within universities and across communities on gender equality and women’s empowerment could be continued and could actually help to produce accelerated and lasting change.
The Centre for Communication Impact (CCI), which is a Pretoria-based non-profit organisation founded by Johns Hopkins University in the United States (US), has deployed a strategic, evidence-based communications approach to launch a number of programmes addressing issues of gender and public health in South Africa.
Its philosophy in seeking to combat gender-based violence is informed by Nelson Mandela’s stated belief that freedom, which is a much-prized goal in South Africa in the context of the country’s history of violent, institutionalised oppression, cannot be achieved unless women have been emancipated from all forms of oppression.
Mr Sakumzi Ntayiya
Director: Centre for Communication Impact (CCI)
In addressing the issue, it is important to have a common understanding of a number of key terms in the discourse, including gender, gender relations and gender equality:
• Gender may be understood as a set of social norms, practices and institutions that regulate relations between women and men;
• Gender relations refer to a system of power dynamics between women and men in the context of sociocultural definitions of masculinity and femininity and economic relations; and
• Gender equality refers to the goal of achieving equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities for women and men, and girls and boys.
3
In this context, achieving equality does not entail men and women becoming the same, but rather ensuring that their rights, opportunities and responsibilities are not shaped by their gender. Gender equality is both a human right and a precondition for, and indicator of, sustainable, people-centred development.
In seeking to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment, CCI has adopted an approach that focuses on men, masculinities and social norms. The strategy is supported by increasing evidence about the connection between restrictive gender norms for men, and sexism and violence. For example, an International Men and
Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES), which is now conducted in about 50 countries, has shown that when men and boys behave and think according to rigid, inequitable gender norms and forms of masculinity, they are more likely to use violence; are less likely to challenge sexism or interrupt violence; and are less supportive of gender-equality interventions.
However, it is important to emphasize that social norms concerning gender, masculinities and violence are learned, they are not innate — and can be actively resisted by some boys and men. In other words, since such behavior is learnt, it can also be unlearnt.
In this regard, many men and boys have learned to accept, condone and remain silent about violence, including against women, through:
• Observing the impunity that surrounds men’s violence;
• Experiencing violence as commonplace in institutions such schools and universities, the armed forces, the police and prisons; and
• Being guided by social priorities that allocate resources for militarized security instead of for care and violence prevention.
At the same time, boys and men across the world are increasingly refusing to conform to rigid, inequitable norms and are starting to create alliances and work with women and people of all genders in their efforts to resist them.
The rationale for involving men and other genders in work to promote gender equality and empower women is based on a number of factors:
• Men play a key role in decisionmaking both within families and more broadly as leaders making policies and programmatic decisions at all levels of society. In addition, men often control resources and wield political and economic power. In this regard, justice and equity in gender relations should be understood as part of efforts to secure broader equality in social relations;
• There are significant benefits for men in producing equality. The maintenance of an unequal gender order in societies is not only unfair on women it has negative consequences or costs for men. For example, the current gender order under which masculinity entails being tough and apparently invulnerable wreaks considerable psycho-social damage, compromising men’s well-being as they seek to suppress their feelings; and
• Men may also see a collective interest in supporting gender equality and women’s empowerment because they see its relevance to the welfare of their families and communities. For example, research has shown that men care for mothers, sisters and daughters – in other words for the women who hold communities together.
In seeking to promote gender equality and help empower women there are a number of practical steps that men can take:
• They can actively fight against GBV, including domestic violence, which necessarily means violence against women and girls (VAWG) and/or against members of the LGBTQIA+ community. When men engage in this struggle it should not only take the form of action, for example, protests and pickets, but should also entail reflecting on their own biases, and empowering themselves and holding each other accountable in this regard. This may include addressing harmful cultural definitions of masculinity and personal psycho-social vulnerabilities;
• They can oppose the gendered division of labour, including unpaid care work which is undertaken by women. Men also should be caring for the home and the family;
and women should be able to find employment in safe, caring, genderequal workplaces, free from sexual harassment. In addition, men’s control over household economic resources, that is the domestic budget, should be challenged;
• They can improve their role in parenthood and become more involved as fathers. Statistics from 2020 indicate that in African communities in South Africa more than 70% of children are not living with their biological fathers, which means that the vast majority of young people lack positive male role models in the family. This situation needs to be redressed, particularly since it has been shown that interventions in which men are involved have a significant effect in empowering girls and improving their self-esteem, as well as addressing the causes of violence; and
• They can adopt a greater role in seek healthcare support, including in relation to increased access to sexual and reproductive health services and HIVprevention programmes. In addition, they need to improve their own understanding of maternal, new-born and child-health programmes, which is an area where men have increasingly started to become involved.
In the context of South Africa’s relatively youthful population it is important that the focus of efforts should be on resocialising young men and boys and teaching them respect for women as equal partners and citizens. At the same time, older male leaders, who are often the community gatekeepers, need to be recruited as champions of social change and gender equality. Project evaluations and empirical evidence have shown that programmes seeking to reshape the behaviour of men and boys in these ways have been effective.
Experience has shown that the effective engagement of men in gender equality and women’s empowerment depends on:
• A strong commitment to women’s human rights and empowerment: The goals of gender equality and women’s empowerment must be central;
• An understanding of the broader context of human rights and social justice: The denial of rights and justice for women must be understood in the context of other forms of injustice and human rights abuses;
• The promotion of structural as well as personal change: The male power that sustains women’s disempowerment and gender inequalities is about more than the actions and attitudes of individual men, it is indicative of a larger system of patriarchy;
• An emphasis on the importance gender relations: It is critical to focus on the pattern of relations between women and men in everyday life;
• Accountability in relation to power and privilege: It is important that men question and be accountable for their participation, both explicit and implicit, in systems and practices of gender oppression; and
• An emphasis on men’s contribution: The role of boys and men in promoting gender equality must be affirmed in the belief that men can change.
In seeking to support CPUT’s present efforts to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment, it is worth noting the effectiveness of a multi-pronged approach in producing sustainable change. Although popular one-off events have a role to play, a longer-term view of change also is required. In addition, there must be accountability among the leadership on the success or otherwise of the institution’s gender and social transformation efforts.
In seeking to mainstream gender into a university’s policies, strategies and plans, it is important to: allocate sufficient resources for planning and programmes; build strategic partnerships and alliances with key stakeholders; and promote positive role models and mentorship for the male students. In addition, a code of good conduct should be established in order to inculcate a human rights culture and address the knowledge, attitudes and practices of university staff.
Meanwhile, the strategic advantage offered by the presence of students should be leveraged. To this end:
• Young men should be resocialised and introduced to a new value system;
• Targeted, ongoing, evidence-informed, best-practice, peer-education programmes should be established; and
• Social media campaigns and other innovative approaches should be deployed to address the “passive bystander mentality”. The goal should be to promote an ethos that all men must take action on a continuous basis.
Furthermore, current gaps in knowledge and practice need to be addressed through relevant academic research. In this regard, it is important that Africans tell their own stories to ensure that the programmes that are being adopted reflect their lived realities, rather than the versions of these realities which are produced by scholars from the Global North.
Nelson Mandela said:
Domestic violence, rape, abuse of women remain disgraceful blots on the reputation of a country that is called a miracle nation in other respects. However, this complex social phenomenon can be addressed through education, commitment and the establishment of appropriate strategic partnerships.
Women and men are not equal in society because of patriarchy which places women in a subordinate position to men. In response, a broad change in power relation across society is required – which is a long-term process. In this context, real change can also only be effected if the process is supported by adequate resources. Hence the need to mainstream gender-responsive budgeting.
Ms Imelda Douf Founding Member and Chairperson: Centre for Family Studies
In order to implement such budgeting, the university must address a number of key needs. It should:
• Institutionalise the process. If a university is serious about being responsive to gender equality issues, it needs to embed its responses in the institution’s financial cycle – that is, the entire budget. In this regard, support for gender equality must go beyond merely funding particular events or commemorations, such as women’s month in August. Gender equality is not an event;
• Produce a vision of how to attain equality through equity in terms of programming. To this end, it must establish its baseline and its goals. This is an area that CPUT is taking seriously;
• Think beyond projects and identify all the gender gaps. These may be found in policies; strategic planning; budgeting; management and administration; programmes; human resource (including in relation to employment equity); student issues (including equity among the cohort); and curriculum and pedagogic issues – such as, for example, the need to produce more women scientists. All the gaps between women and men across the university need to be identified; and
• Consider how it will implement the planned changes and report on them. This is an area in which many institutions are quite weak – for example, by failing to produce sex-disaggregated evidence of the efforts taken and their impacts over particular financial periods. Such impact assessment is necessary in order to track how an institution has changed itself and to monitor its contribution to a more equal society.
Gender responsive budgeting takes place at three main levels:
• At the macro-level, national governments forge the legislation and establish the necessary legislative framework and macroeconomic policies, which then shape the kinds of approaches adopted at the meso-level – that is, the efforts made by institutions to allocate resources to implement gender equality.
• At the meso- or institutional level, the aim must be to adopt a gender lens in relation to how the whole budget is allocated, rather than merely apportioning some tranches of funding to address particular aspects of gender equality or particular sets of activities. In other words, the approach should be to consider how the budget is helping to close the gender gap across the institution.
• At the micro-level, the aim is to consider how resources may best be allocated to particular programmes or projects to promote gender equality and equity.
1 There must be a policy commitment and buy-in from senior managers, which has taken place at CPUT. This should entail aligning the policy on gender equality with the budgetary cycle and reporting financially on gender equality issues accordingly;
2 A comprehensive finance strategy must be adopted. The chief financial officer (CFO) must be involved in producing a gender-responsive budget. To this end, the CFO must provide guidelines to all departments, units and projects and try and help build the capacity of the staff involved as required. In this regard, the CFO’s responsibility is to think about how the supply chain works across the university in relation to gender equality – and to develop a budget accordingly;
3 An appropriate institutional structure should be established in support of the efforts of the CFO and senior managers in implementing gender-responsive budgeting. This could be a gender task team or a working group comprising members from the different sections of the institution. However, it should be noted that such a body should have a purely advisory role in relation to making the university’s budget more gender responsive and should not become involved in organising events and activities, as often tends to happen;
4 The budget is linked to the university goals. The university’s budget must be linked to the institution’s goals, so that when the university reports on what it has achieved and is yet to achieve, this is linked to budgeting;
5 There is an institutional commitment to gender-responsive planning and budgeting among all academic and nonacademic staff. Everyone must assess whether their spending is promoting gender equality and take responsibility to ensure that it does. For example, those responsible for seeking tenders for services should consider the gender equality
commitments of the prospective providers. The students also may be engaged in this process;
6 Appropriate expertise should be sought. Gender-responsive budgeting is a technical process, so the institution may need to make use of external technical economic and gender expertise to do it right;
7 Expenditure tracking systems should be established to determine the levels of expenditure on gender issues throughout the financial cycle;
8 Appropriate allocation of resources should be made within the budget for processes that can promote gender equality. There are a number of areas in which resources can easily be allocated in a gender-responsive way – for example, in issuing tenders to, or hiring services from, women-owned companies. The Rand and cent value of such efforts needs to be measured in order to gauge the extent to which the resource allocation across the whole university is reducing gender inequality;
9 There should be administrative accountability of all budget holders in the university. This may entail scrutinising administrative procedures for their gender sensitivity;
10 The budget cycle process should include gender analysis of exactly how much money has been spent on promoting gender equality and whether the spending has been effective in helping the institution meet its gender-equality targets;
11 Budget statements should be produced that respond to gender equality and equity issues; and
12 Performance management of all budget holders across the university needs to incorporate gender-equality goals. Thus, the budget holders will be obliged to address the issue of gender in their work.
Promoting women in leadership 5
The prevalence and horrific nature of genderbased violence serves as a reminder that South Africa’s democratic dispensation has a long way to go to eradicate male privilege and patriarchy. In this context, the struggle for gender equality is not just the preserve of feminist scholars in airconditioned offices. When women and children are being slaughtered at a rate only equalled in conflict zones, it produces a broader historic and moral obligation upon the whole society, both men and women, to take a stand. “Not in my name” is a universal call. Both gender and racial discrimination should be classified as social pathologies – that is, a set of deviant, regressive behaviours and practices – that progressive democratic societies deem unacceptable.
In free societies where discrimination on the basis of race and/or gender is outlawed, social ills such as gender-based violence; gross social inequality, especially with regard to minorities; and inadequate social safety nets for the most vulnerable, are not that widespread. Furthermore, countries that have embraced gender equity have in the main made the greatest social and economic advances since the end of the Second World War.
3 Countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Dr David Phaho
DVC: RTIP
Looking to Scandinavia for example, four of the countries there – Iceland, Norway, Denmark and Finland – were led by women in August 2021 and a few months later the fifth, Sweden, appointed Magdalena Andersson to the top job, making her the country’s first female prime minister. The 35-year-old Finnish prime-minister, Sanna Marin, who is leading one of the most successful and progressive countries in history is the world’s youngest head of state. It is no accident that these women-led egalitarian societies have a high profile in supporting women’s empowerment and gender rights.
Meanwhile, in the US in 2021, Janet Yellen became the first woman in 232 years to serve as the country’s Secretary of the Treasury – the latest in a line of secretaries that stretches back to Alexander Hamilton, one of the country’s founding fathers. In terms of academic qualifications and public- and private-sector experience, she is also the most qualified person to have held the top financial position in the world’s most powerful economy.
In New Zealand, the “shero” is Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern who led her nation through the pandemic with the kind of skill
that can only come to the fore in moments of great global crisis. International media praised her swift response to the outbreak. The Washington Post described her regular use of interviews, press conferences and social media appearances as a masterclass in crisis communications. (Meanwhile, the presumptive leader of the free world, former president Donald Trump, was issuing insults from the White House.) Unlike her American peer, Arden won a landslide return to office in 2020. Elsewhere, in Europe, Angela Merkel, Germany’s longest-serving and most consequential chancellor, continued to rule.
By contrast, and notwithstanding the evidence of the achievements of these leading women, many countries, including South Africa, were crippled by gender-based discrimination and violence in 2021. In the absence of gender equity at universities, in boardrooms and in the seats of political power, such nations have stagnated in large part because the rights of 51% of their populations have remained largely unaddressed or promoted at the highest levels.
In this regard, it is critical that such countries learn from the example of those which have moved the dial on gender equity. In countries which have made a concerted effort to provide opportunities for women in areas which were historically the preserve of men, young women grow up to be assertive and believing that they too can become national leaders.
In addition, it has been shown that societies which prize gender equity have the lowest incidence of GBV and gender inequality; and, as in the case of OECD countries which prioritise gender equality, they are also the richest.
In recognition of the universality of human rights and the economic and social plight of women as unwilling prisoners of patriarchy, CPUT understands that it has a duty to contribute to women’s empowerment through its teaching and learning; its research and innovation; and its non-curricular programmes, such as in the area of leadership development.
In particular, the university acknowledges the roles and responsibilities of men in promoting gender equality. To this end, CPUT has pledged to work with student formations to contribute
to the HeForShe think-tank and is also seeking to foster a more comprehensive engagement with men and boys, whether at home, work or in the broader society. In this regard, the importance of men using the resources that they control for the greater good should be noted.
Clearly, an attitudinal change is required within traditionally maledominated leadership circles, whether in the public or private sector, or at universities. A new generation of progressive leaders must be appointed – and not on the basis of their knowledge of men’s football or their ability to network on the golf course. Skills and competency should be the only yardstick for leadership. To this end, the old arguments about a lack of suitable women candidates no longer hold water in 2021, given that the talent pool is becoming increasingly diverse – as is shown by the example of women leaders at the helm of some of the world’s most successful economies.
Universities are centres of learning and ideas and they should lead the way in prioritising leadership excellence which transcends race and gender. The profile of universities across the world shows significant enrolment of women in the past 50 years. The recruitment of university managers and academic leaders should reflect this changing profile. In other words, the institutions should promote equity in response to this demographic change and be accountable accordingly. In addition, the university’s leadership should ensure that the funding of academic endeavours, including for bursaries, scholarships and leadership, is distributed equitably to promote equality among women and men; and that reporting to funding bodies in both the public and private sectors should account for the progress made in this regard.
It is important to pay tribute to South African women for their important contribution to the liberation struggle and their continued efforts and role in seeking to forge a brighter future. At the same time, it seems that the drive to achieve gender equality in our lifetime continues to be hamstrung by the country’s patriarchal society; while the continuing high levels of gender-based violence call for urgent proactive action rather than a merely reactive approach.
Therefore, as an institution, CPUT needs to make its voice heard in rejecting GBV; and in support of a gender-equal, free society and women’s empowerment. To this end, the institution should create a platform for ideas on how best to advance women’s empowerment, not only as an aspect of human rights but also politically and in relation to black economic empowerment. No longer can all the economic and political power in society be held by men – it must be shared with women as a matter of urgency.
CPUT has made some significant strides in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment but more needs to be achieved. The university must seek to promote the engagement of more women in the applied sciences and in engineering departments and courses, with the greater goal of fostering equality for women in the national economy.
In relation to funding, the institution needs to look at establishing a financial system, programmes and measures that can support and empower women in their studies and more generally in society; and the SRC needs to press for the implementation of such a system.
The university also needs to engage the security community, including on-site private staff and the police, so that they take more effective action to prevent acts of genderbased violence.
More broadly, the SRC will seek to ensure that gender equality and women’s empowerment finds expression in all the university’s structures and will seek to hold the university to account accordingly.
Complex social challenges require integrated solutions. The complexity of discrimination against women can only be addressed effectively in a complex way. A multi-pronged approach engaging multiple stakeholders at all levels from the micro to the macro is required. The Centre for Communication Impact uses an ecological model to address the complex interplay of factors at the various levels – and then forges purposeful and intentional interventions accordingly. Its GBV programme focuses on men at the individual level; on the family, where primary socialisation takes place; on peer groups and the community; and on the larger national society. Its interventions are designed to address all these interrelated levels, which reinforces the messaging it produces.
7 This section is based on a moderated discussion among participants at the webinar, as well as notes made by participants in the concurrent online chat stream.
Gender equality can only be produced by addressing root causes, which entails everyone holding each other accountable. From this perspective, the issue of bystander-ism has become a crucial one, as has the need to engage men and boys in the conversation. For many years, the discussion was held among women and girls who understood each other. But then, as the debate evolved, it became clear that everyone should be involved in the movement. Thus, UN Women decided to establish a platform for men and boys.
It further became clear that men and boys could not be effectively engaged merely as the objects or targets of a campaign for change. The narrative had to be reframed so that it was also about men and boys. In this context, increasing attention has been paid to the needs of the perpetrators in terms of, for example, hunger, housing and mental health. In the Caribbean, there is a UN Women programme which provides a shelter for perpetrators – many of whom come from violent homes, which has shaped how they express their feelings. In this regard, there is a need in South Africa to look beyond primary interventions which seek to prevent GBV and put in place adequate secondary interventions, which seek to provide appropriate support once abuse has taken place, as well as tertiary interventions to promote rehabilitation.
Engagement on the issue of gender equality should start at home where the primary socialisation takes place. All parents have a responsibility to change the patriarchal status quo, which requires dedication and the adoption of an intentional approach. In this regard, parents may need to consider how they can do things differently in the home. So, for example, a married man with children may cook and clean when they come home from work as part of their everyday contribution to the management of the household. The image of this behaviour many then be communicated within the community – for example, by pupils gossiping at school about what their fathers do or don’t do at home. Leading by example, men who challenge gender stereotypes at home through word and deed can thus also initiate a wider change of attitude among their communities.
Change in communities can also be promoted by the present focus on bystander-ism. When the conversation turns to incidents of violence against women and members of the LGBTQIA+ community, many men become defensive. “Not all of us are like that,” they say. Or “I have never done such a thing and never would.” However, the response to this should be, “Yes, it involves all of us”. If a man fails to stop a violation that is happening in front of him, he is contributing to that violation. Also, women who support the disempowerment of women in society should be called to account.
Training to support men in efforts to intervene in cases of potential violence has been developed and is available. Such training, which places the emphasis on protecting the safety of all involved, may teach tactics for distracting possible perpetrators and also for delegating responsibility for the intervention. A number of different types of bystander interventions are being evaluated at present for their effectiveness. Such training also addresses the discourse around protecting women. On the basis that most men say they would defend their sister, daughter or mother, the training interrogates the kind of shift in thinking that is required to extend such care for women beyond the immediate family.
In seeking to promote a sea-change in social attitudes, it is clear that language and discourse can be deployed to challenge dominant narratives and the perpetuation of oppressive systems and cultures. In this regard, the academic community has a
Engagement on the issue of gender equality should start at home where the primary socialisation takes place. All parents have a responsibility to change the patriarchal status quo, which requires dedication and the adoption of an intentional approach. In this regard, parents may need to consider how they can do things differently in the home.
responsibility to ensure that everyone is playing their part, whatever that may be, whether as a parent, educator or elected official. Academic staff may reflect on their own attitudes and behaviours individually and together, particularly in relation to their roles as providers of knowledge and pastoral care to students. In general, universities should be seeking to promote a discourse which addresses the whole problem, including the need to foster preventative approaches. There is also a need for a public education programme to promote conversations around the issue of complicity in communities so that the silence on GBV can be broken.
In terms of socialisation, programmes of affirmation for young men and young women can help them to understand that they have nothing to prove and can value themselves as they are. In addition, given the large number of female-headed households in South Africa and the significant role played by women more generally in managing the home, there is an opportunity for girls to gain an understanding and knowledge of budgeting and finance. At the same time, it should be acknowledged that children and youth raised in one of the country’s many single- or no-parent households may have been socialised in particular ways. In this regard, it is crucial that the university makes every effort to understand the family backgrounds and lived experiences of its students so that appropriate support and interventions can be provided.
It is also important that engagement to challenge the status quo is continuous and should not be limited to a women’s month or the 16 Days of Activism against GBV which starts in November every year. The conversation, the programmes and the interventions need to be incorporated into the fabric of the institution as part of an ongoing effort. The objective should be that the key messages, which must concern how women and men relate among themselves and to each other, are communicated and heard in every
space. (In this regard, it is noteworthy that training sessions which bring together women and men to listen to each other have often revealed how little they generally seem to know or understand about each other’s daily lived experiences.)
The larger goal should be to create a sense of safety and freedom for all in the country’s cities and communities, in its homes and on its streets. In seeking to produce continuous engagement to this end, the university should address gender equality on a monthly basis, in part to avoid flooding August with women’s empowerment events, and also in order to establish a programme of regular engagements with students and staff on the issue. CPUT may also seek to collaborate with schools to foster gender awareness among boys and young men and to support them in unlearning prejudices before they reach university and go to work. In addition, the university may seek to break the silence on GBV and promote gender equality within communities through a series of regular engagements mediated by local leaders.
In support of such efforts, universities need to make budgets available to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment. The process is a relatively simple one: needs and gaps should be identified, for example, in relation women’s physical safety on campus, or their economic vulnerability, or their academic performance and inclusion; and then appropriate programmes are planned by the relevant department or unit to address these. Examples of such programmes may include selfempowerment training for young women at risk of sexual exploitation; bursaries to bring more women into academic fields where they are under-represented, including science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects, as well as accountancy and economics; hiring more women to change the equity dynamics of the staff
complement; or the installation of lighting on campus to produce safer spaces. In many cases, the relevant programmes may already have been established and may merely require implementation across the various faculties and departments in collaboration with existing service providers. In all cases, once the programme has been drafted and approved, it should then be allocated a budget.
However, it can happen that an institution may decide to block such programmes, claiming there is no budget for them. One way of addressing this is to ensure that gender is incorporated at the centre of the budgeting process – in other words, to prioritise gender-responsive budgeting and develop the appropriate tools to this end. This approach, which had slipped from the agenda in recent years, has started to be promoted once again following a resurgence of interest in women’s empowerment and closing the gender gap under the Covid-19 pandemic. In this regard, both the National Treasury and UN Women have been encouraging senior managers and institutions to deploy tools that they have developed for gender-responsive budgeting.
Beyond the university and the public sector, however, there is a continuing reluctance within the private sector to commit sufficient resources and efforts towards helping to end GBV and promote gender equality. For example, although it has been estimated that GBV costs the country between R22 billion and R42 billion every year, only R147 million had been pledged to the Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) response fund by various companies and philanthropists by August 2021. This is not enough and raises questions about the nature and extent of the private sector’s commitment to fighting the scourge of GBV.
Gender equality, women’s empowerment and the struggle against GBV are responsibilities for all university stakeholders, both on a personal basis and in their institutional roles, which has been acknowledged at all levels from the students to the institution’s leadership.
Prof Joseph Kioko
Dean: Faculty of Applied Sciences
The importance of the oneness dimension of CPUT’s Vision 2030 is crucial in this regard since it envisions an institution in which all staff have equal rights; and in which the university seeks to promote gender equality in the classroom, in the professoriate and across the whole workplace. Thus, the commitment to gender equality is not merely rhetorical but concerns the nature of the institution itself and how it operates.
In this regard, a number of important points have been raised: gender equality is not just a women’s issue; men and boys are increasingly refusing to conform to the rigid, inequitable norms that treat genders differentially; and resource allocation and budgeting must be genderresponsive at the macro-, meso- and micro-levels in order to achieve change.
There has also been a call to achieve gender equality in our lifetime and an emphasis on the roles that all members of the universities should be playing to this end, not only within the institution but also within society more broadly.
The practical nature of the present discussion has produced some tangible lessons and should lead to a number of action plans – in all of which the mantra should be: We are our sister’s keeper.
8 This section is based on remarks made by Professor Joseph Kioko, Dean: Applied Sciences, CPUT.
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