Mariam Seedat-Khan

New media and digital technologies have revolutionised how social movements and peacebuilding are organised, communicated and sustained. New-media has provided platforms for advocacy, mobilisation and resistance. While contemporary digital tools offer platforms for community knowledge sharing, they threaten inclusivity, equity and safety in online and offline spaces. The digital age has amplified gendered challenges, exacerbating inequalities, violence and systemic exclusions that hinder women and marginalised groups' participation in digital activism and peace efforts. This paper explores the intersections of gender, technology and activism, critically examining how new-media is a site for empowerment and oppression. An examination of how women and LGBTQI+ individuals navigate digital activism and peacebuilding amid rising online harassment, misinformation, algorithmic discrimination and structural inequalities cannot be negated. Via an intersectional lens, this paper explores the role of gender in digital peacebuilding, addressing key issues such as cybersecurity threats against women activists, gender-based violence in virtual spaces, the digital divide and exclusion of vulnerable voices. The paper highlights innovative strategies employed by feminist and grassroots movements to leverage digital storytelling, artificial intelligence and social media to counter oppression, advocate for justice and foster sustainable peace. By engaging with critical debates at the intersection of gender, technology and peacebuilding, this paper broadens discussions on the risks and possibilities of digital spaces. A significant transformation in content creation, increasingly intersecting with activism, positioning individuals as storytellers and agents of social change. In evolving digital landscapes, communicators must comply with digital codes of conduct to ensure narratives are responsibly crafted for accessibility, ethically grounded and inclusive. Challenging and redressing omissions and biases perpetuated by mainstream media is essential. The paper argues for inclusive policy-driven and community-based solutions to ensure that new-media can be an intervention for empowerment, mitigating gendered marginalisation.

A qualification in Clinical and Applied Sociology facilitates initiatives to mitigate and reduce pervasive social problems prioritising women, children, migrants, families and society. Graduate studies in Clinical and Applied Sociology is limited in South Africa and the global South, therefore a postgraduate degree focused on applying interdisciplinary perspectives in diverse social contexts was initiated. This approach addresses social problems, policies, and enhances community well-being through direct intervention, research, and advocacy. Graduates gain competencies in healthcare, community organizations, government agencies, and educational institutions, contributing to societal change and development. The Clinical Sociology postgraduate programme at the University of KwaZulu-Natal produces change agents by designing and implementing clinical and applied models and interventions. Post-graduates augment critical skills, proficiencies and dexterities by combining research academic interests and societal needs. The aim of the programme typically involves applying l theories and methods to analyse and intervene in social issues and problems at the individual, community, and societal levels. The programme focuses on understanding human behaviour in a social context, diagnosing social problems, and developing strategies for social change. It prepares students for roles in policy development, social research, community work, and advocacy, aiming to promote social justice and improving quality of life. The Bachelor of Social Science in Clinical and Applied Sociology (Honours) is open to students in possession of an undergraduate Sociology qualification or a cognate discipline. A qualification in Clinical Sociology facilitates initiatives that seek to mitigate and reduce pervasive social problems in the interest of women, children, migrants, families and society.

The disproportionate populace progression in Lagos, Nigeria, and industrial undertakings have augmented the region's quantity and quality of waste. The magnitude of waste has initiated a disparaging alteration in the ecosystem of Lagos. Combining the population and volume of industrial waste has overwhelmed the city's existing wastewater management system (WWMS). This study offers an exploratory review of contemporary scholarship, which has reconnoitered sustainable WWMS as a conduit for significant interventions. The qualitative data was extracted from secondary and primary sources. Key informant interviews were conducted with the Lagos State Wastewater Management Office officials. A non‐participant observation approach was used to retrieve the Ogba Industrial Estate data in Ikeja. A plastic manufacturing plant in Amowo Odofin and familial residences in Bariga and Surulere served as empirical observation sites. The analysis embraced a sustainability framework, countenancing the construction of a holistic approach inclusive of environmental, political, economic, and social culpability. While the study established associated legal statutes, lawful compliance with WWMS was deficient. Verification includes frustration with multiple taxations, unpredictable government guidelines and scarce land. Derisory prioritization on environmental impact, scant infrastructure and inadequate technical knowledge are rationalizations for non‐compliance with WWMS in Lagos. The study has identified the urgent need for practical, sustainable WWMS to meet an explosive urban population's needs. The realization of cost‐effective WWMS promises to deliver social and environmental benefits while augmenting socio‐economic and health prospects in Lagos.

This study employs a child-centred approach to examine marginalised migrant children’s South African schooling experiences. Identified as lived schooling experiences are made even more difficult with the co-existence of their foreign status. A reflection on the extent to which inflexible and binary migrant definitions constrain children’s assimilation underscores exclusion. Educational experiences are measured against race, class, gender, culture, language, and socio-economic contexts, unearthing xenophobic violence, hostility, and limited academic support challenges. Adversarial experiences and exclusion are rooted in an unequal society. The case advanced in integrating migrant children into South African schools builds inclusion, well-being, and long-term success. A clinical and applied sociological approach facilitates a restoration of child migrant’s education underscored by a migrant-centred approach in practice and policy. The clinical model seeks to minimise strains, intersecting psychosocial necessities augmenting children’s assimilation, acculturation, adaptation, and care experiences.

Girls from single-parent households in South Africa (90 percent of whom are Black African or coloured) have significantly lower educational outcomes than other demographics. Through a methodology of life-history interviews, we explore the experiences of 30 women in single-headed households who have been successful in their educational endeavours as university students or graduates. Results show that pressures on girls from single-headed households to look after the family and domestic sphere and to protect their bodies from sexual abuse leave many girls depleted of the time, energy, and mental capacity required to study. Despite these challenges, these participants have escaped the perceived weight of their female burden in a post-apartheid, patriarchal society and reclaim their bodies and sense of agency through educational success.

This study investigates the vulnerability of the female adolescent to sexual harassment in motor garages in Ilorin, Nigeria. While informal organizations such as motor garages remain the stronghold of the economy in Ilorin, they also provide fertile-grounds for sexual harassment of female adolescents. This study explored the patterns, perceptions, and experiences of female adolescent hawkers who experienced sexual harassment in four selected motor garages in Ilorin, Nigeria. Data for this study was gathered using semi-structured, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. The study found that sexual harassment of female adolescents in motor garages in Ilorin was pervasive, widespread, and alarming. All participants disclosed they had experienced some forms of sexual harassment in their day-to-day activities. However, perceptions about the severity of the sexual harassment vary from early, middle to late adolescents interviewed. Although, none of the participants disclosed being raped, some revealed that some of their friends had been victims of rape. This study recommends measures to minimize sexual harassment in informal organizations such as motor garages in Ilorin.