Street harassment experiences of female undergraduate students at a State University in Zimbabwe

The study examined street harassment experiences of female undergraduate students at a university in Gweru, Zimbabwe. Socio-cultural and socio-control theories informed the study. The research adopted a constructivist, qualitative approach. Interviews were carried out with 18 undergraduate female s...

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Main Authors: Mawere, Daniel, Moyo, Annah
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/Digital-Library/volume-3-issue-7/106-113.pdf
http://hdl.handle.net/11408/3692
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author Mawere, Daniel
Moyo, Annah
author_facet Mawere, Daniel
Moyo, Annah
author_sort Mawere, Daniel
collection DSpace
description The study examined street harassment experiences of female undergraduate students at a university in Gweru, Zimbabwe. Socio-cultural and socio-control theories informed the study. The research adopted a constructivist, qualitative approach. Interviews were carried out with 18 undergraduate female students between the ages of 19 to 24 years to find out the nature of street harassment they experienced, how they responded to the harassment as well as what could be done to make them move in the city without fear of harassment. The study found out that street harassment was prevalent in public transport and in the streets. Street harassment was attributed to how female students dressed as well as a general negative attitude towards them. The street harassment issue was attributed to male domination of the public space with the intention of keeping females in a subordinate position. What emerges from this study is that street harassment is a matter of concern to the female undergraduate students who feel that their freedom of movement is restricted due to consistent and persistent street harassment by men. Reporting to police does not seem to yield any positive results. If anything it brings further harassment of the participants. There is need to induct the police into the issue of street harassment by educating and empowering them about respecting girls especially those who come to report that they have been harassed. Furthermore, the participants believe that public education is a vital piece of the battle to eliminate street harassment.
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spelling ir-11408-36922022-06-27T13:49:06Z Street harassment experiences of female undergraduate students at a State University in Zimbabwe Mawere, Daniel Moyo, Annah Street harassment Female undergraduate students Public spaces The study examined street harassment experiences of female undergraduate students at a university in Gweru, Zimbabwe. Socio-cultural and socio-control theories informed the study. The research adopted a constructivist, qualitative approach. Interviews were carried out with 18 undergraduate female students between the ages of 19 to 24 years to find out the nature of street harassment they experienced, how they responded to the harassment as well as what could be done to make them move in the city without fear of harassment. The study found out that street harassment was prevalent in public transport and in the streets. Street harassment was attributed to how female students dressed as well as a general negative attitude towards them. The street harassment issue was attributed to male domination of the public space with the intention of keeping females in a subordinate position. What emerges from this study is that street harassment is a matter of concern to the female undergraduate students who feel that their freedom of movement is restricted due to consistent and persistent street harassment by men. Reporting to police does not seem to yield any positive results. If anything it brings further harassment of the participants. There is need to induct the police into the issue of street harassment by educating and empowering them about respecting girls especially those who come to report that they have been harassed. Furthermore, the participants believe that public education is a vital piece of the battle to eliminate street harassment. 2019-08-16T13:24:52Z 2019-08-16T13:24:52Z 2019 Article 2454-6186 https://www.rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/Digital-Library/volume-3-issue-7/106-113.pdf http://hdl.handle.net/11408/3692 en International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS);Vol. 3; No. 7: p. 106-113 open International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science
spellingShingle Street harassment
Female undergraduate students
Public spaces
Mawere, Daniel
Moyo, Annah
Street harassment experiences of female undergraduate students at a State University in Zimbabwe
title Street harassment experiences of female undergraduate students at a State University in Zimbabwe
title_full Street harassment experiences of female undergraduate students at a State University in Zimbabwe
title_fullStr Street harassment experiences of female undergraduate students at a State University in Zimbabwe
title_full_unstemmed Street harassment experiences of female undergraduate students at a State University in Zimbabwe
title_short Street harassment experiences of female undergraduate students at a State University in Zimbabwe
title_sort street harassment experiences of female undergraduate students at a state university in zimbabwe
topic Street harassment
Female undergraduate students
Public spaces
url https://www.rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/Digital-Library/volume-3-issue-7/106-113.pdf
http://hdl.handle.net/11408/3692
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AT moyoannah streetharassmentexperiencesoffemaleundergraduatestudentsatastateuniversityinzimbabwe