Fulfilling Obligations: A gender transformative framework for enhanced prevention of gender-based violence at a university in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Gender-based violence is a global phenomenon, and institutions of higher learning are not spared of the scourge the world over. In Zimbabwe, despite the considerable attention and increasing awareness of gender-based violence, the vice is on the rise. The contribution of this study is the gender-transformative framework it suggests can curb the menace. A Zimbabwe university formed the locus of this study. A qualitative approach was employed because the intention was to capture and concentrate on the participants’ opinions, attitudes, feelings, and emotions on the high prevalence of the scourge and from that, an evidence-guided framework that can mitigate, remedy, and prevent gender-based violence was proposed. The primary method for soliciting the information from the participants was the in-depth face-to-face interview. In the study, 23 interviews were conducted with the Dean of students, three student leaders, the Registrar, and 18 students. A qualitative thematic analysis of the interview data was undertaken, and results revealed that although the university had crafted some measures and mechanisms to deal with the menace, the stumbling block was unsuccessful implementation. A gender responsive multi-pronged framework was innovatively proffered to strengthen implementation initiatives so that the vice is combated.