Gender Based Violence (GBV) in Higher Education Institutions (HEI) pose a serious human rights violation. Globally, the rate of GBV in HEI - which are known for holding a historical reputation as being a vanguard of social spaces for human development - is prevalent among female students. Though both genders are prone to experience GBV, female students bear the grudge and long lasting scars that go unheeded. South African HEI are not an exception to this form of brutality. Thus, questioning the existing education system in HEIs is meant to be value based and produce good citizenry. This review aims to discuss the violation of human rights on female students in HEI which statistically, remain intolerably high. A report by World Health Organisation indicates that at least 35% of women experience some kind of GBV in their lives. On the other hand, a demographic and health survey carried out by Statistics SA in 2016 revealed that, on average one in five females older than 18 years have experienced GBV and that one in three females are assaulted and abused in their lifetime. Therefore, developing a better understanding of the prevalence and manifestations of GBV by informing and educating the HEIs in a myriad of ways through gender sensitivity and awareness programmes is critical. However, the absence of effective and appropriate university platforms to facilitate dialogue between HEI and surrounding communities on GBV; shortage of strategies and structures that spur the development of ongoing intervention programmes which address the underlying factors of GBV remain scanty. Moreover, HEIs have been accused of failing to have in place primary prevention initiatives that are transformative and encourage collaboration between male and female students in reducing GBV. The review also highlights the need to adopt pockets of best practices from pieces of legislations and institutional charters on how to curb GBV, thereby reducing the degeneration of human dignity in HEI.

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