South African university expels pregnant students
South African authorities claim that the expulsion of pregnant students from Zululand University is likely to “perpetuate gender inequalities”.
At least one young pregnant woman has been expelled from a university residence in this region in the north-east of the country, reports Agence France-Presse spokesman for the national commission for gender equality, Javu Baloyi. “We were told there were other cases,” Baloyi said, but could not give a precise figure.
South African Women’s Minister Bathabile Dlamini said in a statement that “this is serious violence based on sex”. “Female students have not become pregnant alone, expelling women. And leaving their partners only perpetuates gender inequalities because (…) you are depriving young women of their right to education”, she adds.
“You are threatening to undo decades of women’s struggle against the social, political. And economic barriers that have left us at the gates of higher education.” Denounced the leader of the ruling party’s Women’s League, the African National Congress (ANC).
In 2016, the awarding of scholarships, still in KwaZulu-Natal province in the north-east of the country. To girls on condition that they were virgins also provoked the indignation of the South African authorities.
