Deputy Minister Buti Manamela to address the South African Union of Students (SAUS) National Mental Health Awareness Campaign Launch and Gender-Based Violence Assembly at the Nelson Mandela University, in Gqeberha.

The Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Mr Buti Manamela will give a keynote address at the SAUS’s Mental Health Campaign and GBV Workshop at Nelson Mandela University in Gqeberha on the 25 August 2022.

A recent HIGHER HEALTH study revealed that 62% of students feel unsafe on campus and feel that they are at high risk to GBV. While 60% of service staff and 71% academic staff did not feel safe on campus.

Related to this, is the impact of GBV on the mental health of victims. Mental health is a neglected topic, and women’s mental health even more so, with the latter receiving little attention within the South African public health sector.

There are several key factors which impact on the mental health status of South African women, namely gender disadvantage, poverty, gender violence, HIV and peripartum depression.

This session is intended to provide a platform to interrogate complex social and cultural issues at the root cause of gender-based and sexual violence and to share critical information to better empower our youth.

Over and above this, this session also seeks to build capacity through training all South African Universities and TVET Colleges by empowering student leadership with the tools and skills necessary to support the students.

Source: Government of South Africa