Inge Newport

Co-Designing Service Spaces for Gender-Based Violence Response in South African Universities: An Interdisciplinary and Participatory Approach

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ABSTRACT

Gender-based violence (GBV) continues to affect university campuses across South Africa, demanding spatial responses that are not only functional but ethically and culturally attuned.

 

This qualitative interior design study explores how co-design can inform the development of service spaces that support prevention, reporting, and survivor care. Situated within a South African university, the study involved walking interviews and a participatory workshop that engaged Student Development and Support (SDS) and Health and Wellness staff in mapping and co-creative activities.

 

Using generative toolkits and spatial modelling, participants expressed their embodied knowledge of service gaps and spatial limitations, integrating it into their decision-making.

 

The findings reveal the need for environments that are adaptable, confidential, and welcoming—qualities that convey care, safety, and trust. This study enhances gendered spatial practice and trauma-informed design by positioning co-design as an ethical methodology in infrastructure planning that responds to gender-based violence. It argues that co-design as a methodological praxis can promote the incorporation of lived experiences into the spatial and cultural framework of higher education institutions.