Introduction: Gender, Sexuality, and Violence in Education—A Three-Ply Yarn Approach

Abstract

In this introduction we set the scene for the chapters that follow and draw attention to the need for addressing the field of sexuality and gender violence-based studies in educational settings by focusing on young person-centred studies within local settings in South Africa. Our starting point is that questions about violence in education are inextricably bound to gender and sexuality, and no engagement with violence can exclude it. The chapter provides a strong basis for understanding the key themes in the book, articulated through a “three-ply yarn approach.” This approach rejects pathologising the violent behaviour of individuals and instead draws attention to gender, sexuality, and the cultural dimensions of violence as it is experienced in educational spaces in South Africa. Through the triple-ply approach the chapter provides a context for understanding masculinities, heterosexuality, gender, race, culture, poverty, class, and structural inequalities. It introduces the key themes in the chapters that comprise the book and argues that changes to dominant ideologies around gender and sexuality are required, as is the need to focus on poverty, culture, race, and class inequalities in order to address gender violence in educational spaces in the country.