Stellenbosch University’s (SU) Student Representative Council (SRC) has rebranded its Womxn Empowerment portfolio, now known as Womxn and Queer Empowerment (WAQE), to offer support and create awareness towards the plight of women and queer people on SU’s campus.
The rebranded portfolio, which took effect on 14 April, was inspired by the anti-gender based violence (GBV) protests that occurred on most South African university campuses, including SU, in September 2019, said Grace Mngadi, WAQE portfolio manager and second-year LLB student at SU.
The Womxn and Queer Empowerment portfolio is a new portfolio within the SRC that hopes to fight for the inclusion and celebration of women and queer individuals at SU. (PHOTO: Supplied)
Although the WAQE portfolio prioritises issues concerning both women and queer students, the need to give a bigger platform to queer issues on campus was a determining factor in the decision to also include the queer community in the portfolio, said Mngadi.
Mngadi said that queer individuals were also victims of GBV and that GBV was not limited to women.
“Representation of the queer community in leadership structures is minimal. The expansion was done to increase the representation of womxn and include queer individuals in decisions taken,” Mngadi said.
It is anticipated however, that the WAQE portfolio will in future become two separate SRC portfolios, as both groups face their own struggles and require their own structures of representation, said Mngadi.
The marginalisation of women and queer people motivated the Womxn and Queer Empowerment portfolio to empower and promote spaces that are more inclusive. (PHOTO: Unsplash/ Jasmin Sessler / Freepik)
Action plan
The new portfolio creates an opportunity to raise greater awareness of what women and queer individuals go through on SU’s campus in a manner that is not invasive and off-putting, but rather inspires others to also help marginalised persons on campus, said Kgalalelo Rakgokong, the WAQE portfolio’s critical engagement manager.
According to Nicole Thompson, secretary and treasurer of the WAQE portfolio, their team acts as a supportive structure that allows members of the WAQE community to express and share their views freely.
“We are working with each other to make a change,” Thompson said.
The portfolio team aims to create a safe environment where individuals can express their thoughts openly without being judged while respecting the opinions and thoughts of others, she said.
The SRC has also collaborated with other societies and structures on campus, according to Mngadi. These include QueerUS and the SU Debating Union, she said. QueerUS advised the WAQE portfolio on creating safe spaces, while the SU Debating Union assisted the new SRC portfolio with managing debates surrounding discourse in the queer communities.
The United Nations Association South Africa (UNASA) Stellenbosch has also shown interest in working with the our team in the future, Mngadi said.