Release Date: 30 September 2019
To: Editors, Producers and Reporters
Tomorrow, 01st October 2019, the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) will be meeting with the South African Council of Educators (SACE), Teddy Bear Clinic and the Department of Basic Education (DBE) Director General (DG) Mr. Mathanzima Mweli at 120 De Korte Street, Parktonian Hotel, Braamfontein, Johannesburg,2001. This meeting is a result of sexual violence in schools that seem to be going on unabated. With the spate of sexual violence in schools, both perpetrated by fellow learners and by the Educators, the CGE decided to call on relevant stakeholders having monitored these cases in various provinces in order to assist the DBE in managing, reducing and ensuring that perpetrators are dealt with by the law.
The Commission has done a summation of sexual violence in schools across various provinces such as Gauteng, Eastern Cape, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, Northern Cape and North West. The CGE observed the following:
- There is an extremely high rate of sexual violence in schools across the country;
- Cases mentioned herein are only an indicator of the reality faced by multitude of learners and educators out there;
- High number of pregnancies as a result of inappropriate sexual behaviour which leads to girls being unable to complete their schooling;
- Sexual harassment perpetrated by educators against learners and amongst educators;
- Unsafe spaces in the school environment as the majority of these offences take place at school, even during school hours;
- Victims of sexual violence are both males and females.
After the presentation that will be made by SACE and Teddy Bear Clinic, DBE DG Mr. Mweli will be afforded an opportunity to respond to various questions that the Commission will ask relating to: sexual harassment policies, sexual offences register, interventions in addressing the scourge of gender based violence (GBV) in schools, the role of the School Governing Bodies (SGBs) and working relations with the South African Police Services (SAPS), amongst others