From Policy to Practice: Frontline Staff Insights on Gender-based Violence and the Built Environment at a South African University

Résumé

Gender-based violence (GBV) persists as a pervasive challenge within South African universities, undermining student safety, well-being, and equity. Although the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) has established a national policy framework mandating institutional responses to GBV, implementation has been inconsistent and uneven. This paper examines the gap between policy intent and practice through a built environment and user-needs perspective, highlighting how spatial and infrastructural conditions shape the capacity of frontline staff to deliver GBV-related services. The study engaged 60 staff members across nine campuses of a South African university, including security, health, and wellness personnel. Using participatory methods such as walking interviews and campus mapping, systemic spatial and infrastructural barriers that hinder the effective implementation of GBV policy mandates were identified. A policy-based interview checklist revealed discrepancies between policy requirements and the environmental conditions necessary for service delivery, pointing to the need to develop implementation standards. The findings highlight how spatial features, such as inadequate lighting, proximity to taverns, and insufficient surveillance, can increase vulnerability to GBV. The results indicate a need to develop targeted interventions, including GBV-focused safety audits and purpose-designed prevention and response infrastructure. The study demonstrates how policy-derived spatial enquiry tools can elucidate environmental factors impacting service delivery outcomes versus expectations. It further advocates the development of policy implementation and monitoring standards to promote consistency in policy adoption. The paper contributes to identifying built environment features associated with GBV within university campus settings and the necessary infrastructure needed to address it.

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