Despite the dismissal and resignation of four staff members from Wits University over various issues of sexual harassment last year, the Wits sexual harassment office (SHO) continues to deal with a range of complaints.
“We don’t expect complaints to just go away overnight,” says SHO director Jackie Dugard, who confirmed that her team are currently dealing with 25 complaints in total, including a case of rape.
“We suspected that there might be quite a few complaints coming through in the wake of the dust that was unsettled during last year’s processes.”
The 25 complaints mostly involve the student-on-student category, followed by incidences of sexism among male staff members towards female staff members.
Some complaints, says Dugard, even relate to student relationships with their husbands or partners.
Professor Jackie Dugard is the director of the Sexual Harassment Office (SH)) at Wits. Photo: Wits University.
Disciplinary for alleged rape of a student by a student
One of the disciplinary inquiries that is underway relates to a formal complaint from last year and involves the alleged rape of a student at a party, by another student. Dugard was not able to provide any details about the disciplinary as the case has not gone to court as yet. She added that the work of the SHO is not on the “public record.”
Dugard says that it is too early to say what their successes have been, as the office only opened in February this year. “[But] I would like to think that if we’ve achieved something so far, it’s to start to make complainants aware that we’re here to support them through providing a safe, effective space for sharing and resolving issues, whether informally or formally.”
Although Wits defines sexual harassment as the “unwelcome conduct of sexual nature,” Dugard recognises that it can be “tricky and slippery” to define.
“Precisely because much depends on whether the words or actions are welcome or unwelcome. However, while on paper this may seem fuzzy, in practice (in most cases) it is clear whether or not the conduct is welcome.”
A lot of the work the SHO has done this year has been reactive, as the team try to get on top of existing complaints, but now they are starting to work proactively. According to Dugard, they have set up a website on the Wits intranet, created a protocol for serious assault and rape, and are working on ways to effectively communicate with the various university communities about the SHO’s work and relevant policies.
“Our biggest challenge is finding effective ways to communicate to the various university communities, including students and staff members,” says Dugard. “We can’t claim to have reached everyone, but we are working towards ensuring that everyone in the university knows where our office is, that we provide support … including counselling … we will investigate and if relevant prosecute such through disciplinary inquiries.”
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