Zimbabwe Gender Commission (ZGC) has urged National University of Science and Technology to come up with ways of dealing with cases of sexual harassment within the institution.
Speaking during a seminar hosted for both Staff members and students on Tuesday, ZGC Legal and investigations manager, Delis Mazambane, said there is need to fight sexual harassment within tertiary institutions all over the country.
“The ZGC urges very student and every staff member to guard against sexual extortion and report any form of sexual harassment immediately”, said Mazambane.
Sexual harassment is not a new phenomenon in tertiary institutions. It has proven to be a recurring decimal in tertiary institutions and it has been receiving considerable attention in research and the media and public awareness has increased dramatically.
The ZGC has its focus on gender equality and sexual harassment. The Commission also conducts research on Gender and also child marriages. It also plays a pivotal role in receiving and considering complaints either from the public or from various institutions.
NUST Vice Chancellor, Prof. Mqhele Dlodlo said: “The University is going to come up with policies and procedures that will assist in dealing effectively with sexual harassment.”
The Vice chancellor implored every student and every staff member for a collective pledge towards fighting criminal acts such as sexual harassment.
He further encouraged all students to observe the human rights day which occurs from the 25th of November to the 10th of December. These are the sixteen days of activism against gender based violence.
“Mark those dates and on those days you can organize activities that bring social awareness to the Bulawayo community or to any community which you may have an influence on as a person”, he said.
The Vice Chancellor also said that NUST is committed to creating and sustaining an environment conducive to effective learning, teaching and productivity in mind with the vision of the university. Thus, the university is committed to prioritization of protection of students, staff members and all stake holders.
A student, Kudzai Chikiwa, said such seminars were key as they empowered students of sexual harassment issues.
“Given that the rate of sexual harassment has been high in tertiary institutions, this was very insightful and very helpful. However I feel that the attendance was not very good, as students we should attend such seminars as they talk about issues that affect us as students”, said Chikiwa
ZGC urged NUST to extend invitations to the Zimbabwe Gender Commission so as to keep the awareness going forward and also putting emphasis that it should never be a once event but one campaign that keeps moving forward until the desired objective of eradicating sexual harassment and attaining gender equality is fulfilled.