Using photovoice to engage orphans to explore sexual violence in and around a township secondary school in South Africa

ABSTRACT

This article examines the vulnerability of orphans to sexual violence in and around their township secondary school. Using photovoice as a methodology with which to unearth these experiences and narratives, we examine how such an approach might engage the voices of orphans to inform thinking regarding sexual violence. Our analysis was informed by our desire to engage learners as critical and creative thinkers who are capable of grounding and thinking critically about their own issues. Findings highlight the vulnerability of orphaned girls both in and outside school. The photographs they produced demonstrate the pervasive nature of sexual violence directed against them. Photovoice enabled both ourselves and our participants to investigate experiences of sexual violence among orphaned learners. In particular, as a participatory visual method, photovoice facilitated the development of a transformative pedagogy in which we created a safe space for orphaned learners, a group that is often marginalised and silenced in many spaces to speak about their experiences. While many groups, particularly poor girls and women, experience high rates of sexual violence, the vulnerability of orphaned girls and boys is further increased by their social status within their families, communities and at school.

KEYWORDS:

• Learners
• orphans
• photovoice
• sexual violence
• school
• transformative pedagogy

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) (file number 107777-001) under an International Partnerships for Sustainable Societies (IPaSS) scheme, and from the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS) in South Africa. The opinions expressed and conclusions arrived at are those of the authors and should not be attributed to either IDRC or the NIHSS.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Ethical clearance for the study was granted by the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education and the school’s management further gave their permission to conduct the study.

2. Siyaphambili is a pseudonym given to the school under study.

3. Public schools in South Africa are categorised into quintiles based on the poverty of the communities they serve, with quintile 1 schools serving the poorest and quintile 5 serving the least poor communities. Schools in quintiles 1–3 have been declared no-fee schools, while quintiles 4 and 5 are fee paying schools.

4. The informal settlement comprised corrugated iron shacks and basic two-roomed low-cost houses built by the government.

5. The teacher was also tasked by the school’s management to cater for vulnerable learners and assist with referring them to social support services outside the school.

6. Workshops were held over weekends and school holidays so as to not interrupt academic programmes at the school.

7. A curatorial statement was written by the participants to further explain and give meaning to their poster narratives.

8. The photographs are all staged and do not represent actual occurrences of sexual violence.

9. We use pseudonyms to protect the identity of participants.