Abstract
This thesis explores the hidden narratives of women students at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) and incorporates the voices of activists and scholars who advocate against sexual harassment, assault, and gender-based violence (GBV) across university campuses and in the country. Drawing on theories of intersectionality, power, and African feminism, and employing a discursive analytical approach, the thesis explores how the women students subjectively narrate their incidents of sexual harassment and the meanings they attach towards their experiences. Qualitative methods were used to explore sexual harassment and hidden narratives, relying on empirical evidence to draw out themes of analysis. Although few interviews were conducted due to the sensitive nature of the topic and the lockdown imposed by the outbreak of Covid-19, I complemented women students’ voices with data collected from a series of webinars convened on sexual harassment and GBV in higher education. Scholars and academics used the webinars as platforms to share ongoing research that continues to expose and address the scourge of sexual harassment and GBV in higher education and South Africa at large. Data analysis in this study revealed that South Africa’s history of colonialism, internalisation of historical patriarchal norms, culture and toxic masculinities, amongst other factors, influence women students’ susceptibility to sexual harassment, which is transferred from society and reproduced in universities. The women students discursively narrated their experiences of sexual harassment and how the patriarchal norms enforced through socialisation at home and in society influenced their reporting or silence about the incidents, and the meaning they attached to those experiences. Despite a variety of institutional policy interventions put in place to challenge and eliminate toxic masculinities that cause GBV, the narratives illuminate that women students doubt these interventions. The doubt emanates from the complex dynamics of intersecting factors such as gendered patriarchal power, gender inequalities and toxic masculinities that are played out as women students constantly negotiate pockets of vulnerability on campus. This study concludes that the manifestation of incidents of vulnerability in the context of ongoing tireless interventions aiming to address sexual harassment on campuses is an indication that scholars, activists and academics have a long way to go in bringing a specific focus on issues of sexual harassment and GBV to universities and society at large.
M.A. (Sociology)