CAMPUS NEWS
Break the Silence
O
Kamogelo Madikwane
On 13 August 2014, the Vaal Campus took a stand against sexual harassment. Men and women, young
and old, go through the tragic experience of being sexually harassed;
be it by close family and friends to
people from their community. This
abuse does not necessarily have to
be physical, but can also be mental
or emotional in some cases. Such
incidents make it hard for one to
stand up against such violence.
The Department of Student Counseling and Development (SCD),
with the Department of Social Work
decided to arrange the first annual
Silent Protest against such violence.
The Campus was filled with over
250 students and staff wearing their
purple t-shirts with the words ‘Breaking the Silence’ written on them, with
many also taping their mouths to
show the significance of the Silent
Protest. Many House Committee
members of residences also joined
the march.
Before the actual began, I had the
opportunity to speak with some of
the lovely students who participated
in the march. Thabisile, a second
year Social Work students said,
“I am doing this march for a good
cause; as a Social Worker, I understand the issue more because it is
an issue we have to deal with daily”.
Dieketseng, another second year
Social Work student explained that
“we are doing this march for sexually harassed people, and it is to
break the silence”.
Dr Saneth Dreyer, the Director of
Student Counselling and Development said that “this march is
all about sexual violence against
women and men, and to create
awareness and to break the silence
so that we can stand together.
Students come to SCD to talk about
their problems, and they are often
too afraid to speak up, and it affects
them. It is surprising that many students have gone through this terrible
thing”.
12 - Student 24/7
The march began by Building 12,
and had all staff and students march
through the parking of building 12
and 8, and all the way down to the
Big Lapa. Once there, everyone
joined in with singing and praying
before speeches were made about
the ‘Survivor to Thriver’ program
on Campus formed by Dr Halley
Walker-Williams, as well as an inspirational speech by a survivor.
After all the motivational speeches,
the students were asked to write
words of strength and positivity on
little notes that were then placed on
a tree with purple wrapping; to show
that the fight doesn’t stop there, and
that those who may have been silent
in the past are not alone.