DieMATIE
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AGT-EN-SEWENTIGSTE JAARGANG | NO 2
WEDNESDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2019
SASCO claims racism in Irene residence HELÉNE LEONARD & KATHRYN VAN DEN BERG
VALENTINE’S DAY IS COMING Scented condoms provided by the University for students’ protection.
Let’s talk about sex baby, let’s talk STDs...
KATHRYN VAN DEN BERG
I
t is no great stretch of the imagination to think that (some/most) students will be having sex this Valentine’s Day. While some celebrate with romantic dates at restaurants such as Wijnhuis, others prefer enjoying more intimate and private acts of love. Regardless of how you choose to spend tomorrow, one special surprise no student wants to take home is a sexually transmitted disease (STD). Getting tested for an STD or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a daunting concept according Dr Lynne Julie from Campus Health, because “there is still stigma attached” to it. While Julie acknowledged that although “patients are educated as to risks associated with unprotected sex”, common STDs students contract are “chlamydia and gonorrhoea. We have had some cases of syphilis as well. While these are treatable, we are running into problems with antibiotic resistance,” expanded Julie on this point. If a student starts showing symptoms, or is concerned in any way about their status, Campus Health does offer free consultation and testing. On this point, Julie said the following: “Consultation with the nursing sister is free – they can manage all things related
to STDs and HIV/AIDS. HIV testing is free. STD screening gets referred to the laboratory at a cost to the patient of approximately R2 000.” With this service, Campus Health wants to make it known that students who are insecure about getting help have somewhere to go, because they are “not always aware of this service” said Julie. While Campus Health treats the medical side of STDs, the Centre for Student Counselling and Development on Victoria Street help students with the psychological aspects of STD or HIV results. “For many, stigmas around STDs are similar to those around HIV/ AIDS,” acknowledged Charl Davids, the recently appointed Deputy Director of the centre. Davids, who is a psychologist by training, reminds students that “for people working in this field as psychologists, or as professionals at Campus Health, there is no stigma”. While Davids acknowledged that students should first seek medical help if they suspect that they have STDs, he also said that “if the nurse feels that more help is needed, they will refer the patient to someone from the SSVO to deal with the psychological aspect.” When asked how to challenge these stigmas, Davids explained the
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benefits of getting tested. “Everything we [psychologists] do is confidential and so we treat it in a way of respect. For me, someone should rather get the help. It is not about the stigma, it is about making sure that they are okay”. said Davids. “STDs [are seen as] having a social stigma and sense of shame,” said André Kershaw, an English Honours student. When asked whether he thinks the university is doing enough to promote sexual health and STD treatment, he said the following: “No. Highly visible drives for testing, as well as regular education programs, some of which could be incorporated into programs like orientation week or into residence culture, are necessary” to demystify the stigmas surrounding STDs. “Dané Dooge, a postgraduate LLB student, provided another perspective on why stigmas still exist for university students regarding sex. She said that “some students, especially women, are scared to talk about sex. Stellenbosch overall seems conservative when it comes to this, and maybe it is a thing students have about being judged. This is true especially for females. Women don’t want to talk about STDs because, even though it is 2019, they don’t want to be slut shamed.”
An incident of alleged racism was brought under the attention of Irene residents yesterday. Members of the South African Student Congress (SASCO) requested that Sasha Marais, Irene HK member for media, sponsorships and networking, announce an all-call for students to assemble in the dining hall. According to these SASCO representatives the intention of the SASCO meeting in the dining hall was to bring attention to what Lwazi Pakade, the convener of the ANC Youth League, called “a racist incident in the residence”. At this time, Marais recalls Pakade saying to the residents in the hall that “there is racism in Irene that you do not know about”. The incident in question concerns two newcomers who were placed together as roommates before the conclusion of welcoming this year and between which supposedly racist exchanges occurred. Pakade, who refers to the black student as “the victim” of the racial incident, was unsatisfied by the way in which the situation was dealt with by the management of Irene. Pakade said that SASCO was approached on Tuesday morning after 08:00 by the student toward which the alleged racist remarks were targeted. He was allegedly physically handed a letter by this student and, according to Pakade, the letter states that “she felt like she was dehumanised. Her roommate was racist towards her. [The roommate] said ‘do not use my comb, it is a white comb’.” Further, “the victim was not consulted in the process and no one cared about her side of the story,” said Pakade. Although she did speak to “some of the HKs about her concerns”, Pakade said “the situation was not handled in a manner that was fair to the victim.” He reiterates that both sides of the story needed to be addressed “to figure out what transpired”. When contacted for more information on the letter in question, Pakade acknowledged that “it seems like someone misplaced” it. When journalists from Die Matie went to Riana Engelbrecht’s, Irene’s residence head, place of residence, they found that Carli van Wyk, SRC chair and previous prim of
SASCO member addressing students in Irene yesterday.
Irene (2017/2018 term), was already in discussion with Engelbrecht. When a meeting was requested between the journalists and Engelbrecht through a HK member, the journalists were informed that, despite the SRC chairperson being granted access to Engelbrecht’s place of residence, Engelbrecht refused to speak to Die Matie. Instead, the journalists were referred to the SSVO through a HK member. When Irene’s Prim was initially unavailable for comment Janke Grundling, the vice prim of Irene, said that she was unwilling to comment at present. Further, Engelbrecht claimed that the journalists should “follow the proper channels”. When Die Matie attempted to contact Ingrid Heÿdenrÿch, the Prim of Irene, she requested the questions beforehand in order to reply via WhatsApp. She also requested to see SASCO’s comments before commenting herself. In an email Heÿdenrÿch then gave a brief explanation of how the incident took place and stated that SASCO members “demanded to have a chance to speak and to warn students against racism”. Heÿdenrÿch further explained that Engelbrect proceeded to inform students about the “various channels” they can follow if they feel that they are being discriminated against or if their rights are being violated. Heÿdenrÿch said that an independent party in the form of the Equality Unit of the university has already been contacted by Engelbrecht to help manage the situation. “Various leaders in Irene have looked at possible solutions to this problem and it is still in process,” explained Heÿdenrÿch.
*This is a developing story and any further details will be published on Die Matie’s online platforms or in the next edition.
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