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abstract
The aim of this briefing article is to investigate the use of visual methods in youth-led participatory action research and their potential in exploring resilience-enabling factors in the context of gender inequality that gives rise to the prevalence of sexual violence, teen pregnancy and the ‘blesser’ phenomenon. This study makes audible the voices of 20 adolescent volunteers at a public school situated in a low-income high-density district close to central Durban in KwaZulu-Natal. Although gender was not part of the criteria for selection, the majority of the volunteers were female and three were male. All were aged between 14 and 17, African and spoke isiZulu. In contrast to studies that select a focus prior to commencement, this programme supported participants to use their agency in determining their own agenda. Through a process of participatory action research they identified social issues they felt were critical to their context, namely sexual violence, teen pregnancy and ‘blessers’. The participants drew community maps to identify physical challenges and problems in their communities, conducted community surveys, created an intervention using visual participatory methodologies and performed drama and poetry on the gender issues that they identified. This study, with its participatory approach, contributes to our understanding of how resilience can be co-constructed and the role young people have in advocating for change and transforming the social ecology in which they are stakeholders to become more gender sensitive.
Notes
1. Available at: http://www.sabc.co.za/news/a/cca7c6804cc79ca08f1cbfaf52343cc3/14%of/female/tertiary/students/involved/transactionalsex-20161605 (accessed March 4 2017).
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Notes on contributors
Roya Varjavandi
ROYA VARJAVANDI has taught within the humanities at both the Durban University of Technology and the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa and at higher education institutions in Xi’an, China. Her research and teaching practice encompass work across the intersecting areas of youth development, gender justice and the use of visual methods in emancipatory learning. Her future plans include implementing a young women's participatory filmmaking project as part of her doctoral research. She has also worked in print media and radio broadcasting and holds a Master's degree in Peace Studies. Email: [email protected]