Browsing by Author "Krige, Dalaine"

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    #EndRapeCulture: The successes and failures of task teams in bringing about change
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2021-03) Krige, Dalaine; Gouws, Amanda; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Political Science.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Rape and gender-based violence have reached epidemic levels in South Africa. The problem of campus rape and sexual harassment is also not a new phenomenon. The statistics are not always reliable due to chronic under reporting and low conviction rates acting as a deterrent to report. Both the state and universities have been slow to respond to the crisis facing the women of the country. It was only after the wave of student protests in 2015 and 2016 that universities around the country faced the full reality of the violence facing the women on their campuses, and in the country. In response to the protests, Stellenbosch University and the University Currently Known as Rhodes set up task teams to investigate the sexual violence women face on their respective campuses. They released reports with recommendations of how to improve the lived realities of the students at their universities. At universities, party rape and date rape are common. The victims often know the perpetrator and often have to coexist with them on the same campus. It is therefore imperative that students who face any form of discrimination, harassment or violence have options for recourse. It is from policy documents of the universities and interviews with key informants that a clearer understanding can be gained on how successful these conflict resolution channels are.The ways that students and institutions respond to the presence of rape culture on university campuses in South Africa is at the heart of this thesis. Rape culture can be understood as the attitudes, perceptions and stereotypes that normalise sexual violence. The research seeks to examine the effectiveness of the interventions which were implemented following the appointment of task teams and the release of their recommendations. Utilising a feminist methodology and a collection of secondary and primary data, which was collected through interviews with key informants, this study seeks to investigate the task teams set up at Stellenbosch University and the University Currently Known as Rhodes. Due to the nature of the thesis, a theoretical feminist framework is used to understand the social conditions that enable a rape culture to survive. Liberal, intersectional and radical feminist scholars are drawn upon to contextualise violence against women in a patriarchal society. South Africa being an exceptionally violent society, rape, rape culture and gender-based violence are common in the country. They are part and parcel of the fabric of our society. The task teams helped to name the problem of rape culture and ensure universities responded to the student protests. Part of their recommendations have been implemented. At UCKAR, policy came as a direct result of the task team, while at Stellenbosch the current policy preceded the protests. Of the recommendations made, approximately half have been implemented so far at each university. UCKAR focused on policy change and student and staff training and sensitisation. Stellenbosch University focused on creating opportunities for training and sensitisation for both students and staff. The task teams, therefore, played a role in challenging the rape culture at both institutions, building off of the momentum of the student protests. However, it will take massive systematic change to unstitch the cloth and create a society in which rape and sexual violence are not predicable outcomes to being woman.