The University of Johannesburg (UJ) held a safety campaign that encouraged its students to speak out should they be victims of gender-based violence as there is always help for them.
The university’s investigating officer for the protection services division, Amanda Strydom said the safety campaign was held to aid students with information that described what they should do, should they be involved in a gender-based violence incident. Along with that, it described how they can be best aided by the protection services division and the processes they follow.
Campus health also had a stand on the day, explaining what students should do and how they assisted them. “Each student that came to us today will know exactly where they can go for varying assistance,” said Strydom.
She explained such days are important, as gender-based violence is an issue that is not only important to the university, but to everyone. “These incidents do happen and we find that people are very hesitant to report them. We want to encourage students to come forward as there is assistance they can get.”
This is not the first time the university has had a campaign like this. When these sorts of activations are done, they centre around a particular topic and various stakeholders lend their support.
At the end of the day, Strydom hoped to have at least reached one person that has been a victim of gender-based violence and that they know there is someone who can help them as they would not deal with the burden alone.
“I think we would have achieved something and such days are to empower people showing them there is also help, and they do not need to keep such issues to themselves, be it males or females, there is always help, they just need to know where to go.”
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