Page 13 - UNAM Forum Ed1-2021

UNAM says NO

to Gender Based Violence

The University of Namibia recently rallied every corner of the higher learning institution
to condemn the act of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) on campus and
in the country at large.

The protest was a united assembly of lecturers, staff, students and student leaders,
who collectively and vigorously chanted “An injury to one is an injury to all and
UNAM says no to SGBV, UNAM for gender equality!”

UNAM Dean of Students, Magriet Mainga stated that “we cannot remain silent and
we will not remain silent. Gender-based violence affects us all, and the pain cuts
deeper in my chest when it happens to a UNAM student” Immaculate Mogotsi, a
UNAM senior researcher at the Multidisciplinary Research Centre, remarked that “It
is time we improve our measures to support victims of gender-based violence and
pledge our support”. She was speaking on behalf of Women in Academia, which
is an initiative by female academics from UNAM and Cardiff University that started
last year, to expedite support to victims of SGBV. Mogotsi mentioned that students
are not courageous enough to go through the process of reporting rape or any
violation alone, therefore, women in academia need to support and investigate all
alleged rape comments, especially those made during classes – this information will
provide the Office of the Dean of Students with the needed evidence to investigate
The research was conducted such allegations.
through community engagement
activities to inform and strengthen Women in academia are committed to work alongside the University’s leadership,
the field response and reduce management and students to improve existing structures that are meant to address
transmission, mortality and burden
on the national health system, SGBV. The initiative seeks to demand the adoption of a zero-tolerance approach
while recommending/assessing to sexual gender-based violence on campus and in residences via stricter
key aspects of behaviour change implementation of policies and sensitization programmes, creating safe listening
communication. forums for Youth Voices to be heard. It also moves for the establishment of a toll-
free hotline on campuses where SGBV can be reported, irrespective of whether the
The competition is the second phase SGBV incidence occurred on, or off-campus. More so, to develop and strengthen
of the research that encourages active SGBV response and intervention teams.
people to use information about
their community’s language, Members of the audience were given the liberty to share sentiments and educate
norms and values to enhance the the audience.
official Covid-19 communication
messages from our government
that are based on fast changing
regulations that aimed to mitigate
and contain the spread of the virus.

The competition has received
an overwhelming response of
creative artwork in the form of
songs, poems, stories, role-play
and drawings from more than
100 applicants from all 14 regions.
Lastly, one of the outputs of the
competition will be an online
educational booklet.

13 Official Newsletter