SCHOOL-BASED GENDER-RELATED VIOLENCE IN NAMIBIA: CAUSES AND MANIFESTATIONS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25159/1727-7140/1384Keywords:
school-related gender-based violence, bullying, masculinity, silence, normativityAbstract
Measuring the prevalence of violence and/or bullying in schools in Namibia has become a recent concern, with little available data. The purpose of the article is to uncover the causes and manifestations of gender-based violence in Namibian schools. This study employed a mixed methodology that included in-depth interviews with key stakeholders and quantitative methods of data collection such as a self-administered questionnaire targeting learners and educators. The evidence emerging from this study indicates high levels of violence and/or bullying in schools and that this violence and/or bullying is frequent, takes specific forms, and targets particular groups of learners, such as girls and those who are perceived as different in terms of their gender. It is hoped that findings will assist relevant ministries and others in the education sector in engaging further with the issue of violence and/or bullying in school and in providing support to those learners who are targeted.
References
Bhana, D. 2012. ‘Girls are not free’ – In and out of the South African school. International Journal of Educational Development 32(2): 352–358. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2011.06.002
Bhana, D. 2013. Kiss and tell: Boys, girls and sexualities in the early years. Agenda 27(3): 57–66. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10130950.2013.834677
Bhana, D. and N. Pillay. 2011. Beyond passivity: Constructions of femininities in a single-sex South African school. Education Review 63(1): 65–78. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2010.508557
Blosnich, J., and R. Bossarte. 2011. Low-level violence in schools: Is there an association between school safety measures and peer victimization? Journal of School Health 81(2): 107–113. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1746-1561.2010.00567.x
Butler, A. H., A. H. Alpaslan, J. Strümpher, and G. Astbury. 2003. Gay and lesbian youth experiences of homophobia in South African secondary education. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Issues in Education 1(2): 3–28. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1300/J367v01n02_02
Creswell, J. W. 2009. Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. New York: SAGE.
Currier, A. 2012. The aftermath of decolonization: Gender and sexual dissidence in postindependence Namibia. Journal of Women in Culture and Society 37(2): 441–467. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/661715
DePalma, R., and M. Jennett. 2010. Homophobia, transphobia and culture: Heteronormativity in English primary schools. Intercultural Education 21(1): 15–26. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14675980903491858
Department of Education. 2001. Opening our eyes: Addressing gender-based violence in South African’s schools. Pretoria: Canadian–South African Management Programme.
Elia, J.P. and M. Eliason. 2010. Discourses of exclusion: Sexuality education’s silencing of sexual others. Journal of LGBT Youth 7: 29–48. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/19361650903507791
Kangootui, N. 2015. Teacher arrested for Khomasdal double murder. The Namibian, October 10.
LAC. 2012. Alternative report to Namibia’s first, second and third periodic reports on the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and two optional protocols (1997-2008).Windhoek: LAC.
LaFont, S. 2010. Beliefs and Attitudes toward gender, sexuality and traditions amongst Namibian Youth. Windhoek: LAC & OYO.
Lamprecht, H. 2014. Kinder geweld se grootste slagoffers. [Greatest victims of child violence.] Die Republikein, October 2.
Leach, F. 2006. Researching gender violence in schools: Methodological and ethical considerations. World Development 34(6): 1129–1147. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2005.11.008
McCormack, O. and J. Gleeson. 2010. Attitudes of parents of young men towards the inclusion of sexual orientation and homophobia on the Irish post–primary curriculum. Gender and Education 22(4): 385–400. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09540250903474608
Msibi, T. 2012. ‘I’m used to it now’: Experiences of homophobia among queer youth in South African township schools. Gender and Education 24(5): 515–533. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2011.645021
Peguero, A. A. and A. M. Popp. 2011. Youth violence at school and the intersection of gender, race and ethnicity. Journal of Criminal Justice 40: 1–9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2011.11.005
Postmus, J. L., G. L. Hoge, R. Davis, E. K. Johnson, E. Koechlein, and S. Winter. 2015. Examining gender based violence and abuse among Liberian school students in four counties: An exploratory study. Child Abuse & Neglect 44: 76–86. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2014.11.012
Potgieter, C. and F. C. G. Reygan, 2012. Lesbian, gay and bisexual citizenship: A case study as represented in a sample of South African Life Orientation textbooks. Perspectives in Education 30(4): 39–51.
Rothmann, J. and S. Simmonds 2015. ‘Othering’ non-normative sexualities through objectification of ‘the homosexual’: Discursive discrimination by pre-service teachers. Agenda 29(1): 116–126. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10130950.2015.1010288
Zain, Z. M. 2012. The awareness of gender-based violence among students in the higher learning institutions. Social and Behavioural Sciences 38: 132–140. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.03.333
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright will be vested in Unisa Press. However, as long as you do not use the article in ways which would directly conflict with the publisher’s business interests, you retain the right to use your own article (provided you acknowledge the published version of the article) as follows:
- to make further copies of all or part of the published article for your use in classroom teaching;
- to make copies of the final accepted version of the article for internal distribution within your institution, or to place it on your own or your institution’s website or repository, or on a site that does not charge for access to the article, but you must arrange not to make the final accepted version of the article available to the public until 18 months after the date of acceptance;
- to re-use all or part of this material in a compilation of your own works or in a textbook of which you are the author, or as the basis for a conference presentation.
Accepted 2016-12-08
Published 2017-03-07