Several Stellenbosch University (SU) residences recently hosted a gender-based violence (GBV) heel walk and fundraising event on the Rooiplein.
Stellenbosch University female residences Harmonie and Monica and male residences Wilgenhof and Simonsberg, recently held a gender-based violence (GBV) heel walk and fundraiser on the Rooiplein. According to Zoe Charles, Harmonie primaria, all money raised will go towards a GBV safe house in Stellenbosch. PHOTO: Asive Mabula
SU residences Harmonie, Monica, Wilgenhof and Simonsberg hosted the event on 26 August. They sought to raise funds for a GBV safe house in Stellenbosch through the sale of cupcakes and ribbons, according to Zoe Charles, Harmonie primaria.
The event raised just over R350, stated Charles.
“The initiative is to raise awareness about gender-based violence, especially on campus and around other campuses in South Africa,” said Charles.
The event also received donations, which included various items which will be included in self-care packages for the shelter, according to Charles.
The shelter could not be named, as it is a safe house, said Charles.
To walk in a woman’s shoes
The event encouraged men to walk in high heels as a way of putting themselves in the shoes of South African women who experience GBV everyday, said Charles.
“Our main theme for this event is to walk in her shoes […] to show that… that is how we walk every day. Whether it’s uncomfortable, painful, or you don’t know how to walk – that’s the kind of [discomfort] that we as women feel,” explained Charles.
“If you embrace femininity, and females, you wouldn’t disregard them. You would embrace them,” said Taahir Salie, a BA humanities student at SU who opted to wear high heels during the walk.
Taahir Salie, a Stellenbosch University BA humanities student, attended a recent gender-based violence (GBV) heel walk and fundraising event on the Rooiplein and said “sometimes you just have to strut your way forward and put aside that masculine urge”. VIDEO: Asive Mabula
‘A war this generation should fight’
Pieter Conradie, a house committee member at Wilgenhof, helped plan the event. He told MatieMedia, in written correspondence, that everyone should unite against GBV.
“GBV is the war that our generation of students are tasked to fight and we must come armed with our fire-hardened rhetoric and our capacity to understand what others are going through,” said Conradie.
Once people have empathy, a collective vulnerability can emerge in which people can be compassionate and self-conscious of the impact of their words and actions, said Conradie.
“What we can do as men and male residences, is to engage in self-reflection in order to become better versions of ourselves so that better versions of our communities may arise,” said Conradie.
Illustrated above are police-recorded crime statistics of types of sexual assaults in South Africa. These statistics were recorded in the second quarter of 2022. A total of 9 516 reports of rape were recorded. GRAPHIC: Asive Mabula