Shakila Singh

The what, who and where of female students’ fear of sexual assault on a South African University campus

abstract Sexual assault is a serious and urgent concern at university campuses. The fear of sexual assault is widespread and expressed almost exclusively by women. This briefing explores female students’ fears about sexual violence and the spaces within which they feel vulnerable while at university, with a view to planning effective interventions to address their fears. This was done by working with them towards understanding the nature and extent of sexual violence, how to deal with it when it occurs and, most importantly, how to prevent it. The analysis draws on the responses of 133 female students at a university in KwaZulu-Natal, who participated in an online survey titled ‘Safer learning environments’, which comprised of closed- and open-ended questions. The findings reveal that the fear of sexual assault is widespread, especially amongst women living in university residences. The people most feared are outsiders and male students. Given the powerful ways in which female students’ activities on campus are shaped and constrained by their fear of sexual violence, it is important to gain their perspectives on how sexual violence is understood, how it is reported, and how it can be addressed. Comprehensive interventions that include and move beyond strengthening security measures and punishment are critical. These have to actively engage students in reflecting on and challenging social and cultural norms that normalise violence against women.

Reflections of a group of South African teenage mothers: Sexual health implications

Objectives: In the context of women’s vulnerability to sexual violence, HIV infection and unintended pregnancy in South Africa, this paper explores the ways in which teenage mothers who are in school reflect on their experiences of pregnancy and motherhood. We attempt to understand how teenage mothers reflect on their experiences within the cultural and institutionalised discourses in which they are embedded, and how their reflections lead to critical assessment and questioning of the dominant discourses of femininity that compromise women’s sexual health. Methods: This paper draws on findings from a study with a selected group of teenage mothers in a Durban school. Main data collection strategies comprised individual and group interviews. Participants’ reflections on their experiences of teenage motherhood are discussed in relation to three themes: ‘regret and pride’, ‘contesting female victimhood’ and ‘lessons learned’. Results: Many teenage mothers indicate that being pregnant and having a child while still at school provides an impetus to take control of their lives. The data suggest that study participants use their reflections to construct a version of femininity that enables them to express themselves in ways that demonstrate greater agency. Conclusion: The greater agency expressed by teenage mothers has implications for their future sexual health and prevention of subsequent unintended pregnancies. In particular, it opens up possibilities for engaging them as peers in health education focusing on prevention of unintended pregnancy, by drawing on useful insights from lessons learned.

Redefining love: Female university students developing resilience to intimate partner violence

abstract Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious global issue that mainly affects women. Power and control are among the driving forces behind IPV, and are endorsed within conservative gender regimes that constitute the social ecologies within which women live and love. Socially constructed ideals of love contribute to women’s commitment to forming and remaining in relationships, even if they are abusive. This article draws on data from a study carried out at a selected South African university campus. It highlights evidence of resilience amongst female students through their questioning and redefinition of love in the context of IPV. In this qualitative study, 15 female students were purposefully selected because they live at the campus residences. The main methods of generating data were focus group discussions and individual semi-structured interviews. The findings suggest that young women are alert to love being a gendered discourse that contributes to the prevalence of, and the maintenance of IPV. Specifically, in this study, some of the young women demonstrated resilience by rejecting commonly held disempowering notions of romantic love that many women are invested in, and instead redefined their meanings of love in a less self-sacrificing way.

Easier said than done: African male university students’ projections of masculine performances within (future) marriage

ABSTRACT Marriage continues to be a fundamental institution through which sexual and social relations are forged. However, little is known of the ways in which young men think about negotiating their personal and relational identities within the formalised institution of marriage. This article focuses on African male university students. Theories of ‘power’ and ‘performativity’ are used to understand their projections of masculinity within (future) marriage. The young men’s gender role expectations, and the ways in which they plan to conform to and/or attempt to disrupt traditional patriarchal messages in their marriage goals, are explored. Gender power inequities in a patriarchal South Africa in which politically and culturally perpetuated social inequality are embedded, have been implicated in the high degree of interpersonal violence. From the projected roles as husbands and fathers that these men hold, many reject violence as a show of power. This is a positive indication of men questioning and reworking gender norms that condone and accept violence against women as normal. Their intentions to subvert the masculinities privileged by patriarchal gender discourses, and thereby redefine gender configurations within intimate relations in contemporary society, are viewed against perceived tensions with upholding traditional conceptions of gender roles. Men’s resistances are buttressed by the dominant heterosexual norms (which they feel they benefit from), leading to ambiguity in relationships.