The document, titled “Policy Framework to Address Gender-based Violence in the Post-School Education and Training System”, was released last Friday. It says the policy guidance is needed because universities and other higher education institutions do not have the means to deal with gender-based violence and this leads to survivors not getting the support they require.
“Universities do not have a system in place that collects rape statistics and reports them to the department of higher education and training,” according to the document. The document says the implementation of the framework will be part of the performance contract and annual performance appraisal of heads of post-school education and training system institutions.
The institutions will have to submit regular reports to the department on: the number of gender-based violence cases reported and distinguish between those on-campus and off-campus; the number of cases dealt with through the justice process and those referred for disciplinary proceedings; the time taken to resolve cases and actions taken to mitigate obstacles to resolution of cases; and programmes or interventions to improve safety and reduce gender-based violence incidents.