FSN condemns female students’ intimidation at UZ

University of Zimbabwe (UZ) female students who want to be part of the Student Representative Council (SRC) are facing intimidation from their male counterparts.

Female students who want leadership positions are looked down upon to the point of feeling inferior to males.

Most recently a female student (names with held for fear of victimisation) who wanted to contest for the Secretary General post almost withdrew from contesting in the elections after males she was contesting with other students stories about her social life to degrade her and printed fewer flyers for her among other factors.

Another female student was detained for more than two hours by security at the college and forced to confess that she published photos of a violent scene which came out in the college’s newsletter. The student was allegedly detained in the control room at UZ and forced to write a report confirming that she took the photos.

Another female student from Midlands State University (MSU) who had come to support her fellow female students was also arrested by security and she spent one night at Avondale police station.

She was allegedly charged with not producing a school ID to enter the university’s premises, but however, when friends who came to see her at the station produced their IDs they were told that the IDs were not recognised identifications, raising eyebrows as to what the female student was really arrested for.  t

The elections have since been put on hold until next semester because of disagreements about the constitution.

As female student body member, we are concerned about the intimidation of our female students. We therefore would like to encourage male students to have a culture of tolerance because we believe that men and women are equal and they should be given an equal opportunity in life.

The Network believes that there is no one sex which is superior to the other, hence there is need for male students to appreciate the efforts that female students are making towards equal representation.

As Female Students Network we also encourage female students to surpass all obstacles of intimidation and thrive to be powerful and exemplary leaders in their intuitions and communities.

 

Female Students Networks holds workshop on fostering resilience of youths against violence

by Thando Gwinji from Solusi University

Female students from 6 different colleges and universities gathered at Bulawayo Polytechnic represented by interesting ladies of different calibers to discuss issues pertinent to the growth of the female student.

 

 

The students were honored to have attended the two day workshop as they were exposed to new and useful knowledge; they got a chance to deliberate on issues mentioned above and many others.

They also got a chance to communicate with their inner beings and dig up the root causes which demolish their development and well-being and also look for ways to combat the problem. Old scars were healed for the sake of progress to develop new beings that are eager to grow and develop their societies.

One thing that most people look for and lack in this world is feeling safe, this wasn’t overlooked in this workshop as the students were taught on safety and were given safety kits , this was meant to go a step further in ensuring that the students don’t feel vulnerable at every turn.

 Above all, different universities and colleges got to interact and share information and knowledge such that at the end of the day it was discovered that problems faced by female students in Bulawayo are similar in nature and these problems shall come to pass the day the societies change their mindset towards the way female students are perceived.

As the saying goes, “change begins with an individual”, therefore, you are urged to be the change you want to see in this world, female students are urged to support each other and desist from the PHD (pull her down) syndrome. Hopefully, this is just the beginning and the students who were at the workshop will disseminate the information gained for the benefit of others as well.