Profile
Deevia Bhana holds the South African Research Chair (SARChI) in Gender and Childhood Sexuality. Her research focuses on the significance of gender and sexuality in the young life course. At the heart of this research are children and young people’s own accounts of their sexual curiosities, pleasures, violence and inequalities and the ways in which education and other institutions can contribute to enhancing their sexual well-being and safety. In this research, attention is given to childhood sexual cultures, young masculinities and femininities, and digital sexual practices with sustained attention to advancing gender and sexual justice-orientated knowledge that is transformative and reimagines futures for children and young people.
Books to her credit include 5 sole-authored, 2 joint authored, 7 co-edited and 1 edited volume. Her recent sole-authored book is Girls and the Negotiation of Porn in South Africa: Power, Play, and Sexuality (Routledge, 2023), most recent sole-edited book is Gender and Young People’s Digital Sexual Cultures (Palgrave MacMillan, 2025) and recent co-edited volumes are Young Masculinities and Sexual Health in Southern Africa (Routledge, 2025) and Decolonial Feminisms, Decolonising Feminisms: Transnational Perspectives (Routledge, 2026). She has published almost 200 book chapters and peer-reviewed articles reflecting her interdisciplinary focus, critical stance, international outlook and collaborations. Her work appears in leading journals such as AIDS Education & Prevention; British Educational Research Journal; Cambridge Journal of Education; Journal of Southern African Studies; Oxford Review of Education, Sexualities; Social Science and Medicine, Teachers College Record.
Deevia Bhana is Co-Chief Editor of Children & Society and Pedagogy, Culture & Society, and Associate Editor of Sex Education. She has been a Co-Chair of RINGS , an advisor for UNESCO on sexuality education, moderated the 2025 G20 event Education for Gender Equality and Peace, served on the CIES Board (2022-2025), and co-founded the Global South Childhood Studies Network www.globalsouthchildhoods.com. She is an elected member of ASSAF and a UKZN Fellow. Recent awards include the HSRC/USAF Medal for Social Sciences and Humanities (2022) and the SAERA Research Honours Award (2025) https://www.saera.co.za/research-honours-award/
Deevia Bhana is a National Research Foundation (NRF) B1 rated researcher.
Publications
- Bhana, D., Shefer, T., & Chandra, G. (Eds.). (2026). Decolonial Feminisms, Decolonising Feminisms: Transnational Perspectives. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003465300
- Bhana, D. (Ed.) (2025). Gender and Young People’s Digital Sexual Cultures. Palgrave MacMillan. https://link.springer.com/book/9783031863578
- Bhana, D., Skovdal, M., & Govender, K. (Eds). (2025). Young Masculinities and Sexual Health in Southern Africa. Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Young-Masculinities-and-Sexual-Health-in-Southern-Africa/Bhana-Skovdel-Govender/p/book/9781032742472
- Bhana, D., Xu, Y., & Adriany, V. (Eds.). (2024). Gendered and Sexual Norms in Global South Early Childhood Education: Understanding Normative Discourses in Post-Colonial Contexts. Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9781003211600/gendered-sexual-norms-global-south-early-childhood-education-yuwei-xu-deevia-bhana-vina-adriany
- Bhana, D. (2023). Girls and the Negotiation of Porn in South Africa: Power, Play and Sexuality. Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Girls-Negotiating-Porn-in-South-AfricaPowerPlayandSexuality/Bhana/p/book/9781032028897
- Bhana, D., Crewe, M., & Aggleton, P. (Eds.). (2023). Sex and Sexualities, Sexual Health and Justice: Perspectives from Southern Africa(pp. 232). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9781003139782/sex-sexuality-sexual-health-southern-africa-deevia-bhana-mary-crewe-peter-aggleton
- Bhana, D., Singh, S., & Msibi, T. (Eds.). (2021). Gender, Sexuality and Violence in South African Educational Spaces (pp.299). Palgrave MacMillan. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-69988-8
- Bhana, D. (2018). Love, Sex and Teenage Sexual Cultures in South Africa: 16 Turning 17 (pp.168). Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Love-Sex-and-Teenage-Sexual-Cultures-in-SouthAfrica16turning17/Bhana/p/book/9781138235274
- Pillay, V., Mitra vom Berg, N., Bhana, D., Guimaraes Mattos, C., & Almedia de Castro, P. (2017). Academic Mothers in the Developing World: Stories from Women in India, Brazil and South Africa (pp. 196). Africa World Press. http://africaworldpressbooks.com/academic-mothers-in-the-developing-world-stories-from-india-brazil-and-south-africa-by-v-pillay-n-mitra-van-berg-d-bhana-c-guimaraes-de-mattos-p-almeida-de-castro-hardcover
- Mkhwanazi, N., & Bhana, D. (Eds.). (2017). Young Families: Gender, Sexuality and Care(pp. 220). HSRC Press. https://www.hsrcpress.ac.za/books/young-families
- Bhana, D. (2016). Gender and childhood sexuality in the primary school (pp. 229). Springer. http://www.springer.com/in/book/9789811022388
- Bhana, D. (2016). Childhood Sexuality and AIDS Education: The Price of Innocence(pp. 164). Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Childhood-Sexuality-and-AIDS-Education-The-Price-of-Innocence/Bhana/p/book/9781138853003
- Bhana, D. (2014). Under Pressure: The Regulation of Sexualities in South Africa Secondary Schools (pp. 720). MaThoko’s Books. https://www.google.co.za/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=isbn:1920590587
- Morrell, R., Bhana, D., & Shefer, T. (Eds.).(2012). Books and/or Babies. Pregnancy and young parents at school(pp. 256). HSRC Press. https://www.hsrcpress.ac.za/books/books-and-babies
- Morrell, R., Epstein, D., Unterhalter, E., Bhana, D., & Moletsane, R. (2009). Towards Equality? Gender in South African schools during the HIV/AIDS pandemic (pp. 256). University of KwaZulu-Natal Press. http://www.ukznpress.co.za/?class=bb_ukzn_books&method=view_books&global[fields][_id]=337
- Xu, Y., Ljunggren, B., & Bhana, D. (2026). A cross-cultural theoretical framework for understanding children’s perspectives of gender in early childhood education and care (ECEC) across countries. In Young Children’s Perspectives on Teacher Gender: Contextualizing Gender Stereotypes and Inclusive Practices in Early Childhood Education and Care (pp. 17-27). Routledge.
- Bhana, D., Shefer, T., & Chandra, G. (2026). Feminisms, decolonial dialogues, and transnational perspectives. In D. Bhana, T. Shefer, & G. Chandra (Eds.), Decolonial Feminisms, Decolonising Feminisms: Transnational Perspectives (pp. 3-17). Routledge.
- Bhana, D., & Mkhwanazi, N. (2026). Researching and refusing reproduction: Feminist decolonial possibilities. In D. Bhana, T. Shefer & G. Chandra (Eds.), Decolonial Feminisms, Decolonising Feminisms: Transnational Perspectives (pp. 142-157). Routledge.
- Moosa, S., & Bhana, D. (2026). Challenges and Opportunities: The politics of gender in South African Early Childhood Education and Care. In D. Brody, Y. Xu, K. Emilsen & L. Coles (Eds.), Young Children’s Perspectives on Teacher Gender Contextualizing Gender Stereotypes and Inclusive Practices in Early Childhood Education and Care (pp. 91-110). Routledge.
- Janak, R., & Bhana, D. (2025). Teachers troubling gender, sexuality and violence in early childhood: A new feminist materialist perspective. In J. Prioletta., A. Davies & K. Smith (Eds.), The Bloomsbury Handbook of Gender and Sexuality in Early Childhood (pp. 281-296). Bloomsbury.
- Bhana, D. (2025). Gender and Sexuality in Early Childhood: Lessons for African Feminists. In K. Kelly (Ed.), Global Education: Linking Theory and Practice (pp. 0). Emerald Publishing.
- Bhana, D. (2025). Global concerns and local realities: Gender, sexuality and young people’s digital futures. In D. Bhana (Ed.), Gender and young people’s digital sexual culture (pp.263-284). Palgrave MacMillan
- Bhana, D. (2025). Gender, sexuality and young people’s digital cultures. In D. Bhana (Ed.), Gender and young people’s digital sexual culture (pp.1-35). Palgrave MacMillan
- Bhana, D. (2025). Girls’ desires, porn and sexual double standards. In D. Bhana (Ed.), Gender and young people’s digital sexual culture (pp.193-216). Palgrave MacMillan.
- Bhana, D., Skovdal, M., & Govender, K. (2025). Young masculinities and sexual health: Perspectives from Southern Africa. In D. Bhana, M. Skovdal, & K. Govender (Eds.), Young masculinities and sexual health in Southern Africa (pp.1-18). Routledge.
- Bhana, D. (2025). Living on the edge: Young masculinity, poverty and sexual health. In D. Bhana, M. Skovdal, & K. Govender (Eds.), Young masculinities and sexual health in Southern Africa (pp. 157-175). Routledge.
- Skovdal, M., Bhana, D., & Govender, K. (2025). Theorising ‘other’ masculinities among adolescent boys and young men in Southern Africa: implications for sexual health. In D. Bhana, M. Skovdal, & K. Govender (Eds.), Young masculinities and sexual health in Southern Africa (pp. 287-296). Routledge.
- Bhana, D. (2025). Between panic and protection: Children and young people’s encounters with online pornography. In L. Lingham, & N. Mkhwanazi (Eds.), Digital technologies and gendered realities (pp. 187-202). Routledge.
- Bhana, D. (2025). ‘Girly girls’ and ‘raw girls’: Young femininities, gender and heterosexuality. In A. Torres, PC. Pinto, T. Shefer., & J. Hearn (Eds.), Routledge international handbook of feminisms and gender studies: Convergences, divergences and pluralities (pp. 289-303). Routledge.
- Bhana, D. (2024). Sexuality, Bodies and Desire through the Schooling of Girls. In T. Abebe., A. Dar., & K. Wells (Eds.), Routledge Handbook of Childhood Studies and Global Development (pp. 304-318). Routledge
- Bhana, D., Xu, Y., & Adriany, V. (2024). Gender and sexuality in Global South early childhood education. In D. Bhana., Y. Xu., & V. Adriany (Eds.), Gendered and Sexual Norms in Global South Early Childhood Education (pp. 1-15). Routledge.
- Bhana, D. (2024) Crush-Tastic: When Girls Encounter Sexually Explicit. In S. Mazarella (Ed.), The Routledge Companion to Girls’ Studies (pp. 363–374). Routledge.
- Bhana, D.,Crewe, M., & Aggleton, P. (2023). Sex, Sexuality and Sexual Health in Southern Africa. In D. Bhana., M. Crewe., & P. Aggleton. (Eds.). Sex, Sexuality and Sexual Health in Southern Africa (pp. 1-12). Routledge
- Bhana, D. (2023). Early Childhood Education. In L. Allen., & M. L. Rasmussen (Eds.), The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Sexuality Education (pp. 1-9). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Bhana, D. (2023) Comprehensive Sexuality Education: Young Masculinity, Cultural Relevance and Context Matters. In: Tierney R, Rizvi F and Erkican K (Eds.). International Encyclopedia of Education, 4th edition. Elsevier Science.
- Bhana, D & Salvi, F. (2022) Inhlawulo, Kin and Custom: Young men negotiating fatherhood and respectable masculinity. In: E. Moore (Ed.). Generation, Gender and Negotiating Custom in South Africa. Routledge.
- Bhana, D., Yankah, E & Aggleton, P. (2021). Sexual Literacy and Health: A Global Challenge. In Gilbert Herdt, Michelle Marzullo & Nicole Polen (Eds.) Critical Sexual Literacy: Forecasting Trends in Sexual Politics, Diversity and Pedagogy (pp. 259 – 266). Anthem Press.
- Bhana, D. (2021). Race, gender and sexuality in South African teenage girls’ construction of ‘porn stars’. In: Blaikie, F. (Ed.). Global perspectives on youth and young adults: Situated, embodied and performed ways of being, engaging and belonging (pp.122 – 138). Routledge.
- Bhana, D., Singh, S., & Msibi, T. (2021). Introduction: Gender, Sexuality, and Violence in Education—A Three-Ply Yarn Approach. In: Bhana, D., Singh, S., & Msibi, T. (Eds.). Gender, Sexuality and Violence in South African Educational Spaces (pp. 1 – 46). Palgrave Macmillan.
- Mayeza, E, & Bhana, D. (2021). “Other” Boys Contesting Hegemonic Masculinities and Violence in the Primary School. In: Bhana, D., Singh, S., & Msibi, T. (Eds.). Gender, Sexuality and Violence in South African Educational Spaces (pp. 47 – 67). Palgrave Macmillan.
- Govender, N., & Bhana, D. (2021). Girls and the Negotiation of Heterosexual Femininities in the Primary School. In: Bhana, D., Singh, S., & Msibi, T. (Eds.). Gender, Sexuality and Violence in South African Educational Spaces (pp. 113 – 133). Palgrave Macmillan.
- Bhana, D. (2021). Desire and Distress: Girls Growing Up and Negotiating Gender, Sexuality, and Harassment in the Primary School. In: Bhana, D., Singh, S., & Msibi, T. (Eds.). Gender, Sexuality and Violence in South African Educational Spaces (pp. 135 – 158). Palgrave Macmillan.
- Pattman, R., & Bhana, D. (2021). Hair-Raising and Makeup Interviews with Young People in a High School: Gender, Race and Sexuality. In: Bhana, D., Singh, S., & Msibi, T. (Eds.). Gender, Sexuality and Violence in South African Educational Spaces (pp. 203 – 222). Palgrave Macmillan.
- Bhana, D. (2021). Girls’ sexuality between agency and vulnerability. In: Yacob-Haliso, O., & Falola, T. (Eds.). The Palgrave Handbook of African Women’s Studies (pp. 2339-2352). Palgrave MacMillan.
- Bhana, D., Xu, Y., & Emilsen, K. (2021). Masculinity, Sexuality and Resistance. In: Brody, D., Rohrmann, T., Emilsen K., & Warin, J. (Eds.). Exploring Career Trajectories of Men in the Early Childhood Education and Care Workforce: Why They Leave and Why They Stay (pp.138-150). Routledge.
- Bhana, D. (2020). “Little boys”: The significance of early childhood in the making of masculinities. In: L, Gottzén., U, Mellström., & T, Shefer. (Eds.). Routledge International Handbook of Masculinity Studies (pp. 174-182). Routledge.
- Bhana, D., & Shefer, T. (2020). Gender, Culture and Sexuality: Young People’s Conceptualisation of ‘Queer’ in South Africa. In: Kjaran, J.I., & Sauntson, H. (Eds.). Schools as Queer Transformative Spaces: Global Narratives on Sexualities and Gender (pp. 158-177). Routledge.
- Bhana, D. (2018). Research under surveillance: sexuality and gender-based research with children in South Africa. In: Lamb, S., & Gilbert J. (Eds.). The Cambridge Handbook of Sexual Development Childhood and Adolescence (pp. 369-386). Cambridge University Press.
- Bhana, D. (2017). Anisa’s Story: Being and becoming a teenage mother in an Indian Community. In: Mkhwanazi, N., & Bhana, D. (Eds.). Young families: gender, sexuality and care (pp.53-64). HSRC Press.
- Mkhwanazi, N., & Bhana, D. (2017). Understanding young families. In: Mkhwanazi N., & Bhana, D. (Eds.). Young families: gender, sexuality and care (pp. 3-16). HSRC Press.
- Bhana, D. (2017). Childhood Sexualities in Africa: Agency and Vulnerability. In: Ofosu-Kusi, Y. (Ed.). Children’s agency and development in African societies (pp.65-76). Codesria.
- Bhana, D. (2017). Sexualities and gender-based research in youth studies. In: Furlong, A. (Ed.). Routledge Handbook of Youth and Young Adulthood. 2nd Edition. (pp. 339-346). Routledge.
- Pattman, R., & Bhana, D. (2017). Learning from the learners: how research with young people can provide models of good pedagogic practice in sexuality education in South Africa. In: Allen, L., & Rasmussen, M.L. (Eds.). The Palgrave Handbook of Sexuality Education (pp. 191-210). Palgrave MacMillan.
- Bhana, D. (2016). Masculinities, femininities and the burden of culture among rural South African teenagers in the context of HIV. In: Liamputtong, P. (Ed.). Children, Young People Living with HIV/AIDS: A Cross-Cultural Perspective (pp. 127-145). Springer.
- Bhana, D. (2016). Steeling the junior body: learning sport and masculinities in the early years. In: Coffey, J., Budgeon, S., & Cahill, H. (Eds.). Learning bodies (pp.53-68). Springer.
- Bhana, D. (2015). “Istabane” South African teenagers and the regulation of sexuality, gender and culture. In: Renold, E., Ringrose J., & Egan, D. (Eds.). Children, Sexuality and the Sexualisation of Culture (pp.193-207). Palgrave.
- Bhana, D. (2015). Learning gender in the early years in South Africa. In: Wyn, J., Cahill, H., & Farrelly, A. (Eds). Handbook on Childhood and Youth (pp.279-288). Springer.
- Bhana, D. (2014). Loving and Fearing: Township girls’ agency amidst sexual risk. In: Pereira, C. (Ed.). Changing Narratives of Sexuality: Contestations, Compliance and Women’s Empowerment (pp. 87-110). Zed Books.
- Bhana, D., & Singh, S. (2012). Gender, Sexuality and HIV and AIDS Education in South Africa. In: Wiseman A., & Glover, R. (Eds.). Education HIV and AIDS Education Worldwide (pp. 213 – 230). Emerald Publishing.
- Bhana, D., & Ngabaza, S. (2012). Teacher responses to pregnancy and young parents in schools. In: Morrell, R., Bhana, D., & Shefer, T. (Eds.). Books and/or babies Pregnancy and young parents in schools (pp. 49-62). HSRC Press.
- Shefer T., Bhana D., Morrell R., Manzini N., & Masuku, N. (2012). It isn’t easy’ – Young parents talk of their school experiences. In: Morrell, R., Bhana, D., & Shefer, T. (Eds.). Books and/or babies Pregnancy and young parents in schools, (pp. 127-148). HSRC Press.
- Morrell, R., Bhana D. & Shefer, T. (2012). Pregnancy and parenthood in South African Schools. In: Morrell, R., Bhana, D., & Shefer, T. (Eds.). Books and/or babies Pregnancy and young parents in schools (pp.1-30). HSRC Press.
- Bhana, D. (2012). Principals, teachers and the ‘problem’ of pregnancy and parenting. In: Morrell, R., Bhana, D., & Shefer, T. (Eds.). Books and/or babies Pregnancy and young parents in schools (pp.31-34). HSRC Press.
- Bhana, D., Shefer, T., & Morrell R. (2012). Conclusion: Policy Implications and issues for the future. In: Morrell, R., Bhana, D., & Shefer, T. (Eds.). Books and/or babies Pregnancy and young parents in schools (pp. 169-176). HSRC Press.
- Morrell, R., Bhana, D., & Hamlall, V. (2012). “I’m not scared of the teacher- I can hold him – I can hold him with my bare hands.” School boys, male teachers and physical violence at a Durban Secondary School in South Africa. In: Saltmarsh, S., Robinson, K.H., & Davies, C. (Eds.). Rethinking school violence: Context, gender and theory (pp.94-114). Palgrave Macmillan.
- Bhana, D. (2011). How South African teachers construct gender in the early years of schooling. In: Irby, B., & Brown, G. (Eds.). Gender and Early Learning Environments (pp.95-108). Information Age Publishing.
- Bhana, D. (2009). “Girls hit!” Constructing and negotiating violent African femininities in a working-class primary school. In: Dillabough, J., MacLeod, J., & Mills, M. (Eds.). Troubling Gender in Education (pp.96 -110). Routledge.
- Pattman, R., & Bhana, D. (2009). Colouring sexualities: How some black South African schoolgirls respond to ‘racial’ and gendered inequalities. In: Steyn, M., & Van Zyl, M. (Eds.). The Prize and the Price: Shaping Sexualities in South Africa (pp.21-38). HSRC Press.
- Bhana, D., Morrell, R., & Pattman, R. (2009). Gender and Education in developing contexts: Postcolonial reflections on Africa. In: Cowen, R., & Kazamias, A. (Eds.). Handbook of International and Comparative Education (pp.703-713). Springer.
- Bhana, D., & Pattman, R. (2008). “Indian girls and the construction of boys, sexuality and race”. In: Dunne, M. (Ed.). Gender Sexuality and development: education and society in sub-Saharan Africa (pp.103-117). Sense Publishers.
- Unterhalter, E., North, A., Morrell, R., Bhana, D., Epstein, D., & Moletsane, R. (2008). Mobilizing the gender of care: Accounts of Gender equality, schooling and the HIV epidemic in Durban, South Africa. In: Aikman, S., Unterhalter, E., & Boler, T. (Eds.). Gender equality and HIV and AIDS: Challenges for the education sector (pp.150-169). Oxfam.
- Bhana, D. (2008). Children’s Sexual Rights in an Era of HIV/AIDS’. In: Cornwall, A., Correa, S., & Jolly S. (Eds.). Development with a Body: Making the Connections between Sexuality, Human Rights and Development (pp.77-86). Zed Books.
- Pattman, R., & Bhana, D. (2007). Invoking ‘Culture’ and ‘Sexuality’: Black Girls in Mixed ‘Race’ Schools in, Durban in R. Pattman., & S. Khan (Eds.). Undressing Durban (pp.343-362). Madiba Publishers.
- Bhana, D. (2006). “Doing Power”: Confronting violent masculinities in primary school. In: Leach, F., & Mitchell, C. (Eds.). CombatingGender Violence in and around Schools (pp.171-179). Trentham Books.
- Bhana, D. (2005). Violence and the Gendered Negotiation of Masculinities Among young Black school Boys in South Africa. In: Ouzgane L., & Morrell R. (Eds.). African Masculinities (pp.205-220). Palgrave.
- Bhana, D. (2005). “Show me the panties”, Girls Play Games in the School Ground. In: Mitchell C., & Reid-Walsh, L. (Eds). Seven Going on Seventeen: Tween Studies in the Culture of Girlhood (pp.163-172). Peter Lang.
- Mayeza, E., Bhana, D., Janak, R & Ngidi, N (2026). Sexual sanctions and solidarity: Heterosexual schoolgirls’ negotiations of cisheteronormativity. South African Review of Sociology 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/21528586.2026.2618103
- Bhana, D., & Lucke, S*. (2025). Childhood Sexualities: On Pleasure and Meaning from the Margins. Sex & Sexualities, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/30333717251375994
- Ngidi, N.D, Bhana, D., & Matswetu*, V. (2025). Gender and School Journeys: Mobilities, Sexual Geographies and Girls’ Risk in Rural Zimbabwe. Gender, Place & Culture. https://doi.org/10.1080/0966369X.2025.2578756
- Bhana, D., Mhlongo, Z*., & Basi, P*. (2025). Bikinis, nudes and feminist snaps in teenage girls’ digital sexual cultures. Sexualities, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/13634607251371982
- Bhana, D., & Basi, P*. (2025). ‘Slim-thick’: Desires and pressures in pre-service female students’ account of body ideals. Teachers and Teaching, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2025.2489392
- Bhana, D., & Rizvi, R*. (2025). ‘Cover up’: girls, gender and dress codes in a boarding house. Journal of Gender Studies, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2025.2516566
- Ngidi, N. D., Bhana, D., & Dube, T*. (2025). ‘Our options are limited, so we get married:’ girls, early marriage and health risks in rural Zimbabwe. Health, Risk & Society, 0(0), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/13698575.2025.2492870
- Bhana, D., Govender, D*., & Maphumulo, N. C*. (2025). Heterosexual learners’ accounts of gender and sexuality diversity: Race, religion, reproduction and ritual. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2025.2493347
- Bhana, D., & Lakhan, O*. (2025). Affordance and ambivalence in South African teenage girls’ digital dating practices. Journal of Children and Media, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/17482798.2025.2464845
- Janak, R*., & Bhana, D. (2025). Gender, materiality and culture: South African teachers’ accounts of sexual violence among primary school girls. Journal of Gender-Based Violence 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1332/23986808Y2024D000000043
- Bhana, D., Janak, R*., & Matswetu, V*. (2025). Teaching danger and silencing desire: Gender, culture and sexuality education in Zimbabwe. American Journal of Sexuality Education, 20(1), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/15546128.2023.2298458
- Bhana, D., Reddy, V*., & Moosa, S. (2025). Sabelo’s Journey as a Young Black Gay Man in South Africa and the Potential of the Grindr App. Journal of Homosexuality, 72(9), 1772–1788. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2024.2392675
- Bhana, D., Reddy, V*., & Moosa, S. (2025). Young people becoming intimate on social media: Digital desires and gender dynamics. Sexualities, 28(4), 1653-1670. https://doi.org/10.1177/13634607241281449
- Moosa, S., Bhana, D., & Govender, D*. (2024). Parents’ views on gay male teachers in early childhood education. Cambridge Journal of Education, 54(5), 645–662. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2024.2397378
- Bhana, D., Aggleton, P., Miedema, E., & Ngidi, N. D. (2024). Beyond controversy – International perspectives on sexual and reproductive health education. Health Education Journal, 83(8), 821-829. https://doi.org/10.1177/00178969241297016
- Bhana, D. (2024). Love and assault: Parents’ views on corporal punishment in school. Child Abuse Review, 33(6), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1002/car.70002
- Bhana, D. (2024). Parents and the gender and sexual violence assemblage in a rural school. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 29(9), 1470–1483. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2024.2388053
- Janak, R*., Bhana, D., & Reddy, V*. (2024). Fun, flirtation and fear: Selfies in teenage girls digital exchange cultures. Children & Society, 0(0), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1111/chso.12891
- Mayeza, E., Ngidi, N., Bhana, D., & Janak, R*. (2024). Girls’ experiences of cellphone porn use in South Africa and their accounts of sexual risk in the classroom. Culture, Health & Sexuality. 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2024.2326846
- Janak, R*., Bhana, D., Marculitis, J., & Buccus, I. (2024). ‘Becoming manly’: White South African defence force veterans negotiating masculinity. NORMA. 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/18902138.2024.2311466
- Bhana, D. (2024). ‘You see all these really beautiful people… and then, you look at yourself’: bodies matter in teenage girls’ engagement with porn. Sex Education, 24(5), 722–736. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681811.2023.2289426
- Janak, R*., & Bhana, D. (2024). Girls, sexuality and playground-assemblages in a South African primary school. Children and Society, 38(2), 404-418. https://doi.org/10.1111/chso.12711
- Matswetu, V*., & Bhana, D. (2024). Zimbabwean teenagers learning sexuality and negotiating abstinence. Sex Education, 23(6), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681811.2023.2182280
- Govender, D*., & Bhana, D. (2023). Navigating masculinity: Peer relations and violence among 8–9-year-old South African school boys. Boyhood Studies, 16(2), 55-72. https://doi.org/10.3167/bhs.2023.160204
- Govender, D*., & Bhana, D. (2023). Smoking, swearing and strong muscles: Becoming boys in the primary school. International Journal of Educational Research, 121, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2023.102225
- Bhana, D., & Matswetu, V*. (2023). Girls under surveillance: Engaging Zimbabwean parents on young people’s sexual health. Health Education Journal, 82(6), 623-635. https://doi.org/10.1177/00178969231176786
- Janak, R*., & Bhana, D., & Lakhan, O*. (2023). Girls becoming ‘sexy’ on digital spaces: Capacities and constraints. Journal of Gender Studies, 32(8), 951-963. https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2023.2207003
- Govender, D*., & Bhana, D. (2023). “Be a man”: Boys’ talk about gender in families. NORMA, 18(2), 89-105. https://doi.org/10.1080/18902138.2022.2164668
- Moosa, S*., & Bhana, D. (2023). Men who teach early childhood education: Mediating masculinity, authority and sexuality. Teaching and Teacher Education, 122(2). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2022.103959
- Govender, D*., & Bhana, D. (2022). Race, class and masculinities in a South African primary school. Men and Masculinities, 26(4), 624-644. https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184X221143135
- Janak, R*., Bhana, D., & Govender, N*. (2022). A new feminist materialist analysis of girls and the sexual violence assemblage. Journal of Education, 89, 67-83. http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2520-9868/i89a04
- Döring, N., Bhana, D., & Albury, K. (2022). Digital sexual identities: Between empowerment and disempowerment. Current Opinion in Psychology, 48, 101466. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101466
- Bhana, D., Moosa, S*., Xu, Y., & Emilsen, K. (2022). Men in early childhood education and care: On navigating a gendered terrain. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 30(4), 543-556. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293X.2022.2074070
- Bhana, D. (2022). Primary school teachers misrecognizing trans identities? Religious, cultural and decolonial assemblages. Teachers College Record, 124(8), 98–120. https://doi.org/10.1177/01614681221121530
- Mvune, N., & Bhana, D. (2022). Caring masculinities? Teenage fathers in South Africa. Journal of Family Studies, 29(3), 1346-1361. https://doi.org/10.1080/13229400.2022.2048962
- Bhana, D., & Nathwani, S*. (2022). Teenage girls and the entanglement with online porn: A new feminist materialist perspective. Agenda, 36(1),7-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/10130950.2021.2010582
- Mayeza, E*., Bhana, D., & Mulqueeny, D*. (2022). Normalising violence? Girls and sexuality in a South African high school. Journal of Gender Studies, 31(2), 165-177. https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2021.1881460
- Moosa, S*., & Bhana, D. (2022). ‘Troubling men who teach young children’: Masculinity and the paedophilic threat. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 30(4), 511-528. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2020.1818117
- Bhana, D., Janak, R*., Pillay, D., & Ramrathan, L. (2021). Masculinity and violence: Gender, poverty and culture in a rural primary school in South Africa. International Journal of Educational Development, 87(77), 102509. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2021.102509
- Berriman, B., Bhana, D., Crafter, S., Robb, M., & Xu, Y. (2021). Engaging diversities in a changing world: A statement from the new editors of Children & Society. Children & Society, 35(1), 1-2. https://doi.org/10.1111/chso.12427
- Mayeza, E*., & Bhana, D. (2021). Boys and bullying in primary school: Young masculinities and the negotiation of power. South African Journal of Education, 41(1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.15700/saje.v41n1a1858
- Kangaude, G., Bhana, D., & Skelton, A. (2020). Childhood sexuality in Africa: A child rights perspective. African Human Rights Law Journal, 20(2), 688-712. https://dx.doi.org/10.17159/1996-2096/2020/v20n2a15
- Mayeza, E*., & Bhana, D. (2020). Boys negotiate violence and masculinity in the primary school. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 41(3), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2020.1721267
- Bhana, D., & Chen, H*. (2020). ‘If you a bitch, we treat you like a bitch’: Teenage boys’ constructions of heterosexual masculinity. Journal of Youth Studies, 23(10), 1273-1292. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2019.1668548
- McGrath, K., Van Bergen, P., Moosa, S*., & Bhana, D. (2020). The plight of the male teacher: An interdisciplinary and multileveled theoretical framework for researching a shortage of male teachers. Journal of Men’s Studies, 28(2), 149–164. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1060826519873860
- Moosa, S*., & Bhana, D. (2020). Men who teach young children: ‘You can never be too sure what their intentions might be’. Oxford Review of Education, 46(2), 169-184. https://doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2019.1644995
- Mayeza, E*., & Bhana, D. (2020). How ‘real boys’ construct heterosexuality in the primary school playground. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 34(2), 267-276. https://doi.org/10.1080/02568543.2019.1675825
- Chen, H*., Bhana, D., Anderson, B., & Buccus, I. (2020). Bruin ous are the main ous: Exploring ‘Coloured’ masculinities in Durban’s Wentworth township. Journal of Southern African Studies, 46(1), 73-90. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03057070.2020.1690324
- Moosa, S*., & Bhana, D. (2020). Masculinity as care: Men can teach young children in the early years. Early Years: An International Research Journal, 40(1), 52-66. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09575146.2019.1651697
- Moosa, S*., & Bhana, D. (2019). Troubling the male role modelling theory: Male teachers as role models for girls?” European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 27(6), 888-901. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293X.2019.1678931
- Bhana, D., Crewe, M., & Aggleton, P. (2019). Sex and sexuality education in South Africa. Sex Education, 19(4), 361-370. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681811.2019.1620008
- Carboni, C*., & Bhana, D. (2019). Teenage girls negotiating femininity in the context of sexually explicit materials. Sex Education, 19(4), 371-388. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681811.2019.1577730
- Bhana, D., & Mayeza, E*. (2019). Primary schoolgirls addressing bullying and negotiating femininity. Girlhood Studies, 12(2), 98-114. https://doi.org/10.3167/ghs.2019.120208
- Mvune, N*., Bhana, D., & Mayeza, E*. (2019). Umhlalaphansi and Inkwari: Teenage men’s accounts on becoming fathers. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 21(2), 147–159. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2018.1459843
- Bhana, D., & Mayeza, E*. (2019). ‘Cheese boys’ negotiating and resisting masculinity in the primary school. NORMA: International Journal for Masculinity Studies, 14(1), 3-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/18902138.2018.1494402
- Aggleton, P., Bhana, D., Clarke, D., Crewe, M., Race, K., & Yankah, E. (2018). HIV education: Reflections on the past, priorities for the future. AIDS Education and Prevention, 30(30), 254-266. https://doi.org/10.1521/aeap.2018.30.3.254
- Bhana, D., & Pillay, J*. (2018). Negotiating femininities on campus: Sexuality, gender and risk in an HIV environment. Health Education Journal, 77(8), 915-926. https://doi.org/10.1177/0017896918784693
- Matswetu, V*., & Bhana, D. (2018). Humhandara and hujaya: Virginity, culture and gender inequalities amongst adolescents in Zimbabwe. Sage Open Special issue on Adolescence, Sexuality and Reproductive Health in Sub-Saharan Africa, 8(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244018779107
- Bhana, D. (2018). Girls negotiating sexuality and violence in the primary school. British Educational Research Journal, 44(1), 80-93. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3319
- Moosa, S*., & Bhana, D. (2018). ‘They won’t take you as a man, as a real man’ Why men can’t teach young children in foundation phase. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 22(6), 577-593. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2017.1390002
- Carboni, N*., & Bhana, D. (2017). Forbidden fruit: The politics of researching young people’s use of online sexually-explicit materials in South African schools. Sex Education, 17(6), 635-646. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681811.2017.1344629
- Bhana, D. (2017). Love, sex and gender: Missing in African child and youth studies. Africa Development, 42(2), 251-264. https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ad/article/view/167090
- Mayeza, E*., & Bhana, D. (2017). Addressing gender violence among children in the early years of schooling: Insights from teachers in a South African primary school. International Studies in Sociology of Education, 26(4), 408-425. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09620214.2017.1319288
- Bhana, D. (2017). Love grows with sex: Teenagers negotiating sex and gender in the context of HIV and the implications for sex education. African Journal of AIDS Research, 16(1), 71–79. https://doi.org/10.2989/16085906.2016.1259172
- Moosa, S*., & Bhana, D. (2017). Men managing, not teaching foundation phase: Primary school teacher’s construction of teaching in the early years of primary schooling. Educational Review, 69(3), 366-387. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2016.1223607
- Bhana, D., & Mayeza, E*. (2016). ‘We don’t play with gays, they’re not real boys … they can’t fight’: Hegemonic masculinity and (homophobic) violence in the primary years of schooling. International Journal of Educational Development, 51, 36–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2016.08.002
- Bhana, D. (2016). “Sex isn’t better than love”: Exploring South African Indian teenage male and female desires beyond danger. Childhood, 23(3), 362-377. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0907568216642828
- Nkani, V*., & Bhana, D. (2016). Sexual and reproductive well-being of teenage mothers in a South African township school. South African Journal of Education, 36(2), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.15700/saje.v36n2a1181
- Bhana, D., & Buccus, I*. (2016). Blue Lagoon: Race, class, space and the making of ‘Indian’ masculinities. African Identities, 14(4), 321-331. https://doi.org/10.1080/14725843.2016.1143802
- Bhana, D. (2016). Students encountering race and negotiating friendships, sexuality and language on campus. Africa Education Review, 13(2), 17-30. https://doi.org/10.1080/18146627.2016.1224093
- Bhana, D., & Nkani, V*. (2016). “What can I do, the child is already here?” Caregivers, gender, poverty and the contradiction of care in supporting teenage mothers at school. South African Review of Sociology, 47(2), 3-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/21528586.2015.1132082
- Bhana, D. (2016). Virgins and virtue: African masculinities and femininities in the making of teenage sexual cultures. Sexualities, 19(4), 465–481. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1363460715613298
- Bhana, D., & Moosa, S*. (2016). Failing to attract males in Foundation Phase teaching: An issue of masculinities. Gender & Education, 28(1), 1-19. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2015.1105934
- Singh, T*., & Bhana, D. (2015). Shifting race and class in student construction of identities at a South African university. African Identities, 13(3), 199– http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14725843.2015.1074537
- Bhana, D. (2015). Gendering the foundation: Teaching sexuality amid sexual danger and gender inequalities. Perspectives in Education, 33(2), 67-80. https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC171665
- Bhana, D. (2015). Sex, gender and money in African teenage conceptions of love in HIV contexts. Journal of Youth Studies, 18(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2014.933195
- Bhana, D. (2015). When caring is not enough: The limits of teachers’ support for South African primary school-girls in the context of sexual violence. International Journal of Educational Development, 41, 262-270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2014.08.003
- Bhana, D. (2014). Ruled by hetero-norms? Raising some moral questions for teachers in South Africa. Journal of Moral Education, 43(3), 362-376. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057240.2014.922943
- Bhana, D., & Nkani, V*. (2014). When African teenagers become fathers: Culture, materiality and masculinity. Culture Health & Sexuality, 16(4), 337-350. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2014.887780
- Bhana, D. (2014). ‘Managing’ the rights of gays and lesbians: Reflections from some South African secondary schools. Education, Citizenship, Social Justice, 9(1), 67-80. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1746197913497663
- Bhana, D. (2014). Race matters and the emergence of class: views from selected South African university students. South African Journal of Higher Education, 28(2), 355-367. http://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC153552
- Bhana, D. (2013). Gender violence in and around schools: Time to get to zero. African Safety Promotion, 11(2), 38-47. https://www.ajol.info/index.php/asp/article/view/136091
- Bhana, D. (2013). Kiss and tell: Boys, girls and sexualities in the early years. Agenda, 27(3), 57-66. https://doi.org/10.1080/10130950.2013.834677
- Bhana, D. (2013). Introducing love: Gender, sexuality and power. Agenda, 27(2), 3-11. https://doi.org/10.1080/10130950.2013.822688
- Bhana, D. (2013). Love in Africa: A view from Jennifer Cole. Agenda, 27(2), 99-104. https://doi.org/10.1080/10130950.2013.822686
- Bhana, D. (2013). Continuity and change in students’ account of race and class relations at a South African University. Journal of Higher Education in Africa, 11(1/2), 1-18. https://www.jstor.org/stable/jhigheducafri.11.1-2.1
- Bhana, D., & Anderson, B*. (2013a). Gender, relationship dynamics and South African girls’ vulnerability to sexual risk. African Journal of AIDS Research, 12(1), 25-31. https://doi.org/10.2989/16085906.2013.815408
- Bhana, D., & Anderson, B*. (2013b). Desire and constraint in the construction of South African teenage women’s sexualities. Sexualities, 16(5/6), 548-564. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363460713487366
- Makusha, T*., Richter, L., Knight, L., & Bhana, (2013). ‘The good, the bad and the ugly’: Childhood experiences of fathers and their influence on women’s expectations and men’s experiences of fathering in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Fathering: A Journal of Theory, Research, and Practice about Men as Fathers, 11(2), 138-158. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/2908
- Bhana, D., & Mcambi, S*. (2013). When schoolgirls become mothers: Reflections from a selected group of teenage girls in Durban. Perspectives in Education, 31(1), 11-19. http://www.ajol.info/index.php/pie/article/view/87984
- Shefer, T., Bhana, D., & Morrell, R. (2013). Narratives on teenage pregnancy and parenting at school in contemporary South African contexts. Perspectives in Education, 31(1), 1-9. http://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC133233
- Bhana, D. (2013). Parental views of morality, sexuality and the implication for South African moral education. Journal of Moral Education, 42(1), 114-128. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057240.2012.737314
- Bhana, D., & Pillay, V. (2012). How women in higher education negotiate work and home: a study of selected women at a university in South Africa. Journal of Higher Education in Africa, 10(2), 81-94. https://www.jstor.org/stable/jhigheducafri.10.2.81
- Makusha, T*., Richter, L., & Bhana, D. (2012). Children’s experiences of support they receive from men in rural KwaZulu-Natal. Africa Development, 7(3), 127-152. https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ad/article/view/87513
- Bhana, D. (2012). Understanding and addressing homophobia in schools: Views from teachers. South African Journal of Education, 32(3), 307-318. https://doi.org/10.15700/saje.v32n3a659
- Bhana, D., & Jewnarain, D*. (2012). Gender and sexuality in young children’s’ perspectives of AIDS. Africa Education Review, 9(1), 47-62. https://doi.org/10.1080/18146627.2012.683622.
- de Lange, N., Mitchell., C., & Bhana, D. (2012). Voices of women teachers about gender inequalities and gender-based violence in rural South Africa. Gender and Education, 24(5), 499-514. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2011.645022
- Bhana, D. (2012). Girls are not free in and out of South African, schools. International Journal of Educational Development, 32(2), 352–358. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2011.06.002
- Bhana D., & Pattman, R. (2011). Girls want money boys want virgins: The materiality of love amongst South African township youth in the context of HIV and AIDS. Culture, Health & Sexuality. 13(8), 961-972. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2011.576770
- Bhana, D., & Pillay, N*. (2011). Beyond passivity: Girls’ violence in a single sex school. Educational Review, 63(1), 65-78. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2010.508557
- Bhana, D., Nzimakwe, T., & Nzimakwe, P*. (2011). Gender in the early years: Boys and girls in an African working class primary school. International Journal of Educational Development, 31(5), 443-448. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2010.09.001
- Pattman, R., & Bhana, D. (2010). Sport, girls, trouble and humour: Black and Indian boys negotiating gender, race and class in a formerly white single sex school in South Africa. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 20(4), 547-556. https://doi.org/10.1080/14330237.2010.10820413
- Nkani, V*., & Bhana, D. (2010). No to bulging stomachs: Male principals on teenage pregnancy in Inanda Durban. Agenda, 24(83), 107-113. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10130950.2010.9676297
- Bhana, D., Morrell, R., Shefer, T., & Ngabaza, S. (2010). South African teachers’ responses to teenage pregnancy and teenage mothers in schools. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 12(8), 871-883. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2010.500398
- Bhana, D., & Mthethwa-Sommers, S. (2010). Feminisms today: Still fighting. Agenda, 24(83), 2-7. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10130950.2010.9676286
- Bhana, D. (2010). “Here in the Rural Areas we don’t say that men and women are equal!” Contesting gender inequalities in the early years. Agenda, 24(84), 9-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/10130950.2010.9676304
- Bhana, D., & Pattman, R. (2010). White South African school girls and their accounts of Black girls at school and cross racial heterosexual relations outside school. Ethnicities, 10(3), 371-386. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468796810372302
- Bhana, D. (2010). Deevia Bhana interviews Mbuyiselo Botha. Agenda, 24(83), 8-1. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27917330
- Bhana, D. (2009). Violence – a gendered perspective in education. Agenda, 82, 2-6. https://doi.org/10.1080/10130950.2009.9676234
- Bhana, D. (2009). “AIDS is rape” Gender and sexuality in children’s responses to HIV/AIDS. Social Science and Medicine, 69(4), 596-603. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.06.010
- Bhana, D. (2009). “Boys will be boys?” what do early childhood teachers have to do with it? Educational Review, 61(3), 327-339. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131910903045963
- Bhana, D. (2009). How much do young children know about HIV and AIDS. Early Child Development and Care, 180(8), 1079-1092. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430902742633
- Bhana, D. (2009). ‘They’ve got all the knowledge’: HIV education, gender and sexuality in South African primary schools. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 30(2), 165-177. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425690802700222
- Bhana, D., & Pattman, R. (2009). Researching South African youth, gender and sexuality within the context of HIV/AIDS. Development, 52(1), 68-74. https://doi.org/10.1057/dev.2008.75
- Bhana, D., de Lange, N., & Mitchell, C. (2009). Male teachers talk about gender violence: “Zulu men demand respect”. Educational Review, 61(1), 49-62. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131910802684771
- Bhana, D. (2008). Sex and the right to HIV/AIDS education in early childhood. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 18(3), 277-282. https://doi.org/10.1080/14330237.2008.10820220
- Bhana, D., Clowes, L., Morrell, R., & Shefer, T. (2008). South African schools’ responses to pregnant girls and young parents: A study of some Durban and Cape Town secondary schools. Agenda, 76, 78-87. https://doi.org/10.1080/10130950.2008.9674935333
- Bhana, D. (2008). Beyond stigma? Young children’s responses to HIV and AIDS. Culture, Health and Sexuality, 10(7), 725-738. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691050802265183
- Bhana, D. (2008). ‘Girls hit!’ Constructing and negotiating violent African femininities in a working class primary school. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 29(3), 401-415. https://doi.org/10.1080/01596300802259160
- Bhana, D. (2008). Discourses of childhood innocence in primary school HIV/AIDS education in South Africa. African Journal of AIDS Research, 7(1), 149-158. https://dx.doi.org/10.2989/AJAR.2008.7.1.15.443
- Bhana, D. (2008). “Six packs and big muscles, and stuff like that.” Primary-aged South African boys, black and white, on sport. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 29(1), 3-15. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01425690701728654
- Bhana, D. (2007). What matters to girls and boys in South Africa. Democracy and Education Special Issue of Savage Inequalities: STILL [reprinted], 17(1), 33-42. https://doi.org/10.1080/0300443042000230410
- Bhana, D. (2007). “Emma and Dave sitting on a tree, K I S S I N G” Boys, girls and the ‘heterosexual matrix’ in a South African primary school. International Journal of Equity and Innovation in Early Childhood Special Issue: Queering Childhood, 5(2), 83-96. https://doi.org/1007/978-981-10-2239-5_11
- Bhana, D. (2007). The price of innocence: Teachers, gender, childhood sexuality and HIV/AIDS in early schooling. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 11(4), 431-444. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603110701391394
- Bhana, D. (2007). Childhood sexualities and rights in HIV contexts. Culture, Health and Sexuality, 9(3), 309-324. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691050601116686
- Bhana, D., Morrell, R., Hearn, J., & Moletsane, R. (2007). Power and identity: An introduction to sexualities in Southern Africa. Sexualities, 10(2), 131-139. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363460707075794
- Bhana, D., & Epstein, D. (2007). “I don’t want to catch it” Boys, girls and sexualities in an HIV environment. Gender and Education, 19(1), 109-125. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540250601087835
- Bhana, D. (2006). Rights: Researching children in contemporary South Africa. International Journal of Equity and Innovation in Early Childhood, 4(1), 5-31.
- Pattman, R., & Bhana, D. (2006). Black boys with bad reputations. Alternations, 13(2), 252-272. https://hdl.handle.net/10520/AJA10231757_607
- Bhana, D. (2006). The (im)possibility of child sexual rights in young South African children’s account of HIV/AIDS. IDS Bulletin, 37(4), 64-68. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1759-5436.2006.tb00304.x
- Bhana, D., Morrell, R., Epstein, D., & Moletsane, R. (2006). The hidden work of caring: Teachers and the maturing AIDS epidemic in diverse secondary schools in Durban. Journal of Education, 38, 5-24. https://hdl.handle.net/10520/AJA0259479X_53
- Bhana, D. (2005). What matters to teachers, boys and girls in a black primary school in South Africa. Early Childhood Development and Care, 172(2), 99-112. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0300443042000230410
- Bhana, D. (2005). “I’m the best in Maths. Boys rule, girls drool.” Masculinities mathematics and primary schooling. Perspectives in Education, 23(3), 1-10. https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC87336
- Bhana, D. (2005). Social justice is a verb!. Pedagogy Culture and Society, 3(3), 427-432. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14681360500200227
- Bhana, D. (2003). Children are children gender doesn’t matter. Agenda, 17(56), 37-45. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/10130950.2003.9676019
- Bhana, D. (1999). Education, race and human rights in South Africa. Perspectives in Education, 18(2), 19-30.
Recent Supervision (2018)
- Valerie Reddy (Co-supervisor Dr Shaaista Moosa) Pleasure and Risk: Teenage Boys and Girls’ Negotiation of Sexuality on Social Media Platforms.
- Melusi Dlamini Young Black Men and the Negotiations of Love in eThekwini, South Africa.
- Rabia Khatoon Rizvi From 12 to 15: Girls, Boys, Gender and Sexuality at a High School in the North West Province
- Naresa Govender (co-supervisor Dr Shaaista Moosa) Young Girls, Gender and Sexuality: An Ethnographic Study Exploring Femininities at a Primary School in KwaZulu-Natal.
- Diloshini Govender Young Masculinities: An ethnography of 8–9-year-old Primary School Boys
- Vimbai Sharon Matswetu. Gender, Power and Resistance: A Case Study of Two Rural Secondary Schools in Zimbabwe.
- Mornica Nozipho Mvune. Teenage Fathers: Fatherhood, Masculinity and Schooling in Rural KwaZulu-Natal.
- Jewnarain D. Beyond Schooling: Primary School Girls’ Narratives and Experiences of Gender and Sexual Violence.
- Tasmeera Singh. Investigating Constructions of Student Identities and Its Impact on Social Cohesion at a South African University.
- Shaaista Moosa. Male Teachers in the Early Years.
- Dr Emmanuel Mayeza (2016-2017) Associate Professor UWC
- Dr Delarise Mulqueeny (2017-2019)Associate Professor UNIZUL
- Dr Jennifer Roberts (2019) Psychotherapist US
- Dr Shaaista Moosa (2019-2022) Senior Lecturer UKZN
- Dr Raksha Janak (April 2021-2023) Senior Lecturer UP 2024
- Dr Vimbai Matswetu (April 2022-2025) Lecturer Bindura University
- Dr Rabia Rizvi (April 2024 – )
- Dr Stefan Lucke (July 2025 – )
- Talia Govender Teenage Girls Negotiating ‘Sexy’ on Social Networking Platforms: Visual Images, Selfies and #Challenges.
- Wendy Nhlangulela Sexy selfies, Girls and the Performance of heterosexuality.
- Zandile Mhlongo Teenage Girls Navigating Gender and Sexual Double Standards on Social Media Platforms: A Case Study of 12-18-year-old Girls in South Coast, KwaZulu- Natal. (Cum Laude).
- Phumelele Basi Young women’s experiences of ‘sexy bodies’ on Instagram: A case study. (Summa Cum Laude).
- Sandhia Ganesh. Masculinities and Violence among the boys at an elite high school in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal – An Ethnographic Case Study.
- Esther Novukela Men, Masculinities and Teaching Young Children: Exploring the Graduate Trajectories of a Group of Male FP Teacher Graduates (Cum Laude)
- Asogan Subramony Naicker School Management Teams’ Perspectives on Trans: A Case Study (Cum Laude)
- Thembisa Tshibe Parents’ Views on Transgender Identities and the Implications for Primary School Learners.
- Gobizazi Lucky Mbonambi Teachers’ Construction of Transgender Identities in Rural Secondary Schools.
- Fatima Al Sayed Understanding Teachers’ Construction of Transgender: Perspectives from Primary School Teachers in Amanzimtoti within KwaZulu-Natal (Summa Cum Laude).
- Omeshree Lakhan Cyberbullies: Teenage Girls’ Online Experiences of Sexual Harassment.
- Karen Sathyanand. Primary School Teachers’ Views on Transgender Identity (Summa Cum Laude).
- Nosipho Sithole (co-supervisor Dr Moosa) Children’s Meanings of Same-Sex Sexualities: A Study of 8 and 9-year-old Boys and Girls in a Primary School.
- Valerie Reddy (co-supervisor Dr Moosa) Learners’ Construction of Transgender at a High School in Shakaskraal, KwaZulu-Natal: A Qualitative Study (Cum Laude).
- Laaiqah Syed (co-supervisor Dr Mulqueeny) Primary School and the Construction of Transgender Identities: Views from Learners.
- Nicolette Carboni “Learning Sex”: How High School Students Engage with Online Pornography and Give Meaning to Gender and Sexualities (Summa Cum Laude).
- Senzelokuhle Mpumelelo Nkabini “Making Masculinity”: A Case Study of Rural Primary School Boys’ Meanings- Towards Same-Sex Sexuality.
- MMatshepo Maggie Kgang Violent Boys: Masculinities Among Primary School Boys in Pinetown, KwaZulu-Natal.
- Thandiwe Joyce Xesibe Boys’ Violence and the Construction of Primary School Masculinities in Pietermaritzburg.
- Naresa Govender Boys, Girls and Violence: An Ethnographic Study Exploring Young Masculinities and Femininities at a Primary School in KwaDukuza.
- Diloshini Govender A Case Study of Grade Three Boys, Masculinity and Violence at a Primary School in KwaDukuza, KwaZulu-Natal (Cum Laude).
Research Chairs (SARChI) are designed to increase research capacity through high quality research outputs, internationalisation and postgraduate students as well as developing pathways for the next generation of scholars in South Africa. As SARChI Chair, Deevia Bhana is actively involved in supporting early career scholars and Masters, PhD and postdoctoral fellows and has a significant impact in building the research profile of the next generation of young scholars in the field. Since the inception of SARChI in 2016, five postdoctoral fellows were mentored with four occupying academic positions in universities in South Africa, 11 PhD students have graduated (5 are academics) and 29 full research masters’ students have graduated. One US Fulbright student was mentored in 2019.
Recent scholars:
- Dr Melusi Dlamini – Rhodes University
- Dr Diloshini Govender – University of Witwatersrand
- Dr Raksha Janak – University of Pretoria
- Dr Shaaista Moosa – University of KwaZulu-Natal
Science Engagement
A record of contribution to the public’s understanding of gender and childhood sexuality:
- SABC Chanel Africa 808 Interview, “Why Non-Sexual Nudity Makes Us Uncomfortable”. 30 January 2026. https://youtu.be/lQ2lxCIerc0?si=n4RZJ1lmQnIj-xmF
- Independent Online (IOL) interview – “Don’t look away | Homophobic bullying fuels South Africa’s GBV disaster”. 03 December 2025. https://iol.co.za/news/politics/2025-12-03-dont-look-away–homophobic-bullying-fuels-south-africas-gbv-disaster/
- News24 – Insight on “Parenting boys in a culture of aggression: The Milnerton wake-up call”. 25 October 2025. https://www.news24.com/life/relationships/parenting/parenting-boys-in-a-culture-of-aggression-the-milnerton-wake-up-call-20251024-1357
- SABC Chanel Africa 808 Interview, “Girls Negotiating Porn in South Africa: Power, Play & Sexuality.” 15 August 2024. https://omny.fm/shows/on-the-move/book-broadens-the-conversation-about-how-girls-eng
- Interview with Cape Talk (Afternoon Drive with John Maytham) Girls & Porn – Prof Deevia Bhana, a professor in gender and childhood sexuality. 15 February 2024. https://omny.fm/shows/the-john-maytham-show/girls-porn-prof-deevia-bhana-a-professor-in-gender
- Interview with YOU FM (Breakfast show “Sweetness with the Boys”). GBV at schools and ways we can combat GBV. (Postdoctoral Fellow Dr Raksha Janak). 13 December 2022.
- Interview with eNCASocial1. Beyond 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. 12 December 2022
- Beyond 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. (Postdoctoral Fellow Dr Raksha Janak). 9 December 2022 https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=KXLMcp-6ySU
- Beyond 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. 8 December 2022. https://www.nrf.ac.za/beyond-16-days-of-activism-against-gender-based-violence-sarchi-chair-professor-deevia-bhana-comments/
- Young girls experiencing GBV in schools. 17 May 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ1kil8J1Xs.
- Rape culture in South African schools: Where it comes from and how to change it 26 January 2022. https://omny.fm/shows/power-podcasts/rape-culture-in-south-african-schools-where-it-com
- The prevalence of rape culture in South African Schools. 7 September 2021.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqFIQ9sd_Sg - Examining rape culture in schools. 7 September 2021.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ple6KRRvskg - Young girls experiencing GBV in schools
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ1kil8J1Xs
- Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), Challenging Contexts of Young People and Sexual Violence: Accountability and Action in Schools Webinar. 28 October 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjvYQ-reCPE
- UNGEI and the South African National Departments of Basic Education and Higher Education and Training G20 Side Event: Education for Gender Equality and Peace – Advancing Gender Transformative Education for all. Durban, University of KwaZulu Natal. 1 July 2025
- The First Global Heads Forum in Education and The Inaugural Conference of GAELDH. Global South Forum Discussion: Problematising Developmentalism in Global South Early Childhood Education, Beyond Development: Gender and Sexuality in Global South Early Childhood Education. The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 28-29 November 2024.
- Global Childhoods Research Group (GCRG) and University of Nottingham Webinar: Meet with Journal Editors in Global Studies: A webinar series supporting inclusive academic publishing and capacity building for less experienced authors in global childhood studies. 13 November 2024.
- Shaping Inclusive Futures: Gender Concepts and Curriculum Design in Education Webinar, University of South Africa, South Africa, 11 November 2024.
- Beyond Negative Effects: Gender and Young People’s Digital Cultures, School of Public Health, DY Patil University, Navi Mumbai, India, 21 October 2024.
- BAICE (British Association for International and Comparative International Education) international webinar series: Reaching the most marginalized: Gender Equality in Education and Employment. Reflecting on Gender Inequalities in South African Education: Boys, Girls, and Violence. 24 September 2024.
- 2nd Symposium on Care and Support for Teaching and Learning: “A Response to Ending Learning Poverty”. ‘Our children are not safe’: Mothers’ Struggle to Address Gender and Sexual Violence in Schools, Gauteng, South Africa, 3-4 September 2024.
- Troubling the Silence of Sexuality in the Global South Childhood Studies. International Symposium on Global South Studies- Centralizing the South in the Global Context: Troubling What’s Known & Re-imagining What’s Unknown. Thai Binh Duong University, Vietnam. 21 August 2024.
- Discussant on Marc Epprecht (Queen’s University) Book, Accidental Queer: And other essays around critical masculinity studies in Southern Africa and Canada, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, 6 July 2024.
- Southern Dis(comfort): The Politics of Scholarly (in) Visibility, School of Liberal Arts, Uttaranchal University, India, 10 May 2024.
- The Ragon Institute of Mass General GCEs online lecture series, MIT and Harvard. Love, Sex and Youth Sexual Cultures in the time of AIDS. 20 March 2024
- Chinese Educational Research Association CERA 10th Anniversary Conference, Empowering Education in the Digital Age: Reflections on the Last Decade and Future Directions. Conversations with Journal Editors: Academic Writing and Publishing. Durham, UK. 30 November 2023.
- Working with men and boys for social and climate justice panel series. Masculinities, Social Justices, & Education Webinar. Swarthmore College, 29 November 2023. https://swarthmore.zoom.us/rec/share/aKiY8Ecc-37-H3L63Ww88cBSTXIFXZv05xKwQEkAUVILP6AhT7oFZc6zux4FyAji.D4QkCg0gcoOVKVPi
- Discussant: Sexuality education for Gender Justice in South African Contexts: pitfalls and possibilities. University of Pretoria, 16 November 2023. https://protect-za.mimecast.com/s/E4hkCDREWBSREx5kuWOsYH?domain=drive.google.com video1384775945.mp4
- Chair: Department of Basic Education and Care and Support for Teaching and Learning (CSTL) 3rd National Conference on Care and Support for Teaching and Learning: Transforming Education for Inclusive Safer Schools through Teaching, Learning, Care and Support Innovations. Session 4 Learner Health and Wellbeing. Johannesburg, 12 October 2023. https://protect-za.mimecast.com/s/rcU2C3lJV7C5jRgkcgU3LP?domain=onedrive.live.com
- Royal Geographical Society’s Geographies of Children, Youth and Families Research Group (GCYFRG) series. Gendered and Sexual Norms in Global South Early Childhood Education: Understanding Normative Discourses in Post-Colonial Contexts. Brunel University London, 11 October 2023. https://protect-za.mimecast.com/s/KbeiCO796Qh6q16wSELK56?domain=gcyfrg.wixsite.com
- International AIDS Society at the 12th IAS Conference on HIV Science, Decolonizing HIV science: Conceiving and advancing equitable, Decolonial Research practices Symposium. Decolonizing HIV Science: Reframing How Research is Conducted. Brisbane, 23-26 July 2023. https://programme.ias2023.org/Programme/Session/4438
- ‘Assemblage/s and Methodology’: Doing Qualitative Methodology Differently: A Seed Box Webinar, Assemblage/s and Methodology. University of Pretoria, 05 May 2023. https://www.up.ac.za/psychology/news/post_3150276-psychology-hosts-preeminent-panel-of-south-african-scholars-in-virtual-seed-box-webinar-on-qualitative-research-methodology
- Deputy Ministers Dialogue with Learners on Issues of Sexuality, Pregnancy, SRHR And Schooling at the Pinetown Education District, Ethekwini Metro. Key Findings of research with learners in KZN Province on sexuality, pregnancy, SRHR and schooling. Ohlange High School, Inanda, Durban, 21 June 2023.
- African cities: what place for the youth? Challenging Cities: Young Men, Masculinity and Violence. École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, 11 October 2022. https://africancitieslab.org/en/african-cities-what-role-for-the-youth/
- Centre for Sexualities, AIDS and Gender. Not yet equal for Women: Gender in the workplace. University of Pretoria, 29 September 2022. https://www.csagup.org/
- Expert Roundtable on Gender Based Violence in Institutions of Higher Learning. A project of the Law Trust Chair in Social Justice, Law Faculty, Gender based Violence in Institutions of Higher Learning. Stellenbosch University, 25 August 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNjqIpthKVM&list=PLwTL48ihN7WZOM926tBAZedRlpOuLkKDN https://socialjustice.sun.ac.za/blog/2022/07/expert-roundtable-on-gender-based-violence-in-institutions-of-higher-learning
- AFIN Research Group of the Autonomous University of Barcelona I SexAFIN International Virtual Conference (Re)thinking about comprehensive sexuality education from a child-centered and gendered perspective. Comprehensive Sexuality Education and Young Children: Needed and Denied. University of Barcelona, 14 July 2022. https://en.sexafin-conference.afinbarcelona.com/home
- British Sociological Association New Materialisms Group Zoom seminar. ‘Teenage girls and the entanglement with online porn: a new feminist materialism perspective’. Durham, 20 June 2022. https://www.britsoc.co.uk/groups/study-groups/new-materialisms-study-group/events/
- Psychological Society of South Africa (PysSSA) Webinar. Sexual Consent: Sex, Power and Young People. Johannesburg, 10 May 2022. https://www.psyssa.com/psyssa-workshop-series-2022-workshop-1-sexual-consent-among-young-adults-a-moment-or-a-movement/
- NRF-Embassy of Sweden Webinar on the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence: Hearing and listening to marginalised voices campaign. Gender-Based Violence in marginalised groups and communities. Pretoria, 8 December 2021. https://www.facebook.com/NRFSouthAfrica/videos/1960878724091798
- Gender and Young People’s Digital Sexual Cultures, Childhood, Law & Policy Network (CLPN), 24 August 2025. https://www.qmul.ac.uk/clpn/news-views/book-interviews/items/an-interview-with-deevia-bhana-about-her-edited-collection-gender-and-young-peoples-digital-sexual-cultures.html
- Bhana, D. (2024). Girls and pornography in South Africa: going beyond just the negative effects. The Conversation. 13 February 2024. https://theconversation.com/girls-and-pornography-in-south-africa-going-beyond-just-the-negative-effects-214758
- Interview with Deevia Bhana, Yuwei Xu, and Vina Adriany about their edited collection, Gendered and Sexual Norms in Global South Early Childhood Education. The Childhood, Law & Policy Network (CLPN). 2 December 2023. https://www.qmul.ac.uk/clpn/news-views/book-interviews/items/interview-with-deevia-bhana-yuwei-xu-and-vina-adriany-about-their-edited-collection-gendered-and-sexual-norms-in-global-south-early-childhood-education.html
- Macleod, C. I., Bhana, D., Mkhwanazi, N., Ngabaza, S., Rucell, J., & Stevens, M. (2023). Is Teenage Pregnancy Statutory Rape? No … and Yes — An Urgent Call for Nuance. Daily Maverick. https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-10-19-is-teenage-pregnancy-statutory-rape-no-and-yes-an-urgent-call-for-nuance/
- Janak, R. (2023). Bullying in schools and what can be done. Pulse, 3 (July), 26-27. https://coh.ukzn.ac.za/pulse/2023/July/ (Postdoctoral Fellow SARChI)
- Conflicting views on teen pregnancy emerge: The KZN Parent’s Association said there was no “quick fix” for the issue. The Witness. 7 January 2023. https://www.citizen.co.za/witness/news/teenage-pregnancy/
- Beyond 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence: SARChI Chair, National Research Foundation. 8 December 2022. https://www.nrf.ac.za/beyond-16-days-of-activism-against-gender-based-violence-sarchi-chair-professor-deevia-bhana-comments/
- ‘There’s no protection’: South Africa faces Covid legacy of sex for money. The Guardian. 18 November 2022. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/nov/18/theres-no-protection-south-africa-faces-covid-legacy-of-sex-for-money
- South Africa: When a blessing is a curse. Good Governance Africa. Good Governance Africa’s Africa In Fact. 05 August 2022. https://gga.org/south-africa-when-a-blessing-is-a-curse/
- Over 11 000 girls pregnant in the Western Cape. Weekend Argus, Independent Online. 18 March 2022. https://www.iol.co.za/weekend-argus/news/over-11-000-girls-pregnant-in-the-western-cape-ae8f10c8-9d4c-4f1a-9df0-8169472ec73a
- Morrell, R., & Bhana, D. (2021). Context matters – the way forward for school-based gender programming. Zero Dropout Campaign- Gender Matters. Cape Town: DGMT. https://zerodropout.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/ZERO-DROPOUT-PUBLICATION-2021_GenderMatters_digital.pdf
- Bhana, D. (2021). Rape culture in South African schools: Where it comes from and how to change it. Conversation. https://theconversation.com/rape-culture-in-south-african-schools-where-it-comes-from-and-how-to-change-it-166925
- Mayeza, E. & Bhana, D. (2021) Why girls continue to experience violence at South African schools? https://theconversation.com/why-girls-continue-to-experience-violence-at-south-african-schools-157470
- Bhana, D. (2020). Of African girls, femininities and violence: Pushing against the stereotype/Über Mädchen in Afrika, Weiblichkeiten und Gewalt: Den Stereotypen entgegen treten https://www.beltz.de/fachmedien/sozialpaedagogik_soziale _arbeit/zeitschriften/betrifft_maedchen/article/Journal.html?tx_beltz_journal%5Barticle%5D=44535&cHash =bd59d8d21bac3ecf51adaa31016dab17
- Bhana, D. (2020). Violent behaviour shows up at primary school — and can end there too. Conversation. https://theconversation.com/violent-behaviour-shows-up-at-primary-school-and-can-end-there-too-133107
- McGrath, K., Bhana, D., Van Bergen, P. & Moosa, S. (2019). Do we really need male teachers? Forget those old reasons, here’s new research. https://www.aare.edu.au/blog/?p=4726
- Bhana, D., McGrath, K., van Bergen, P., & Moosa, S. (2019). Why having both male and female teachers is a good idea for schools. Conversation. https://theconversation.com/why-having-both-male-and-female-teachers-is-a-good-idea-for-schools-123780
Upcoming Events
Keynote Address: III International Conference in Gender and Education: Feminist Weaves in Education. AFIN Barcelona Research Group, Autonomous University of Barcelona. 29 – 30 October 2026. III International Conference on Gender and Education: Feminist Weaves in Education – Grup d’Educació i Gènere
International Conference: Seen and Heard: Young People’s Voices and Freedom of Expression. Valletta Campus – University of Malta, 5–7 February 2026.
Deevia Bhana session – “More-Than-Human Sex Education Young People Online Sexually Explicit Content and the Right to Learn.”
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vBPpDnYblakoUH_Tj_58Bghg1Py50SbI/view?usp=sharing
Keynote AddressIII SexAFIN International Conference: Gender Perspectives on Sexuality and Digital Media. AFIN Barcelona Research Group, Autonomous University of Barcelona. 5-7 November 2025. https://afin-barcelona-uab.eu/en/projects/iii-internacional-sexafin-conference-gender-perspectives-on-sexuality-and-digital-media/
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RINGS – The International Research Association of Institutions of Advanced Gender Studies. “On our own terms? On the contestations of feminist knowledges and minoritarian politics in current times”. Utrecht University, Amsterdam.
30 October – 01 November 2025.
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You are invited for a Zoom webinar!
When: Oct 28, 2025, 02:00 PM Johannesburg
Topic: Challenging Contexts of Young People and Sexual Violence: Accountability and Action in Schools
YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjvYQ-reCPE
Recording is on Facebook at: https://web.facebook.com/share/v/17jBRCuQz1/
Deevia Bhana recorded session: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ITTt7K3HoenlCE23dIMW1XyWdnyuDysY/view?usp=sharing<https://url.za.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/D9pDCRgBjWSvQ4KRWf9fYu10GMr?domain=drive.google.com
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06 – 08 October 2025
The School of Education is delighted to host Professor Francesca Salvi, from October 06 – 08, 2025. During her visit, Professor Salvi will lead a series of workshops and discussions on Uncertainty as Pedagogical Methodology, New Materialist Methodologies, Using an NFM Lens in the Literature Review, Data Collection, and Analysing Qualitative Data. Her visit is intended to deepen methodological understanding, enhance analytical and writing skills, and inspire innovative, collaborative approaches to gender and sexuality research in education.
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Teenage Fathers And Masculinities In South Africa Conference. 06 October 2025. Durban, South Africa. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpFOK0gCpFg
Programme
Monday, 6th October 2025
08h00 – 17h30
Southern Sun Elangeni & Maharani Hotel
Floor 1, Suite 4-5, Elangeni Tower
This one-day conference asks what it means to be a teenage father in contemporary South Africa. We are interested in how schools, families, communities and services can enable and reconfigure masculine norms to enable teenage fathers to become the men and fathers they want to be. The conference brings together researchers, practitioners and policy-makers to examine teenage fatherhood and its implications for school policy, social protection and father-inclusive programmes that strengthen intergenerational care and support continued education.
Programme Highlights
- Keynotes and panels on schooling, care and shifting masculinities
- Policy and practice roundtable on father-inclusive support in schools and communities
- Community dialogue with teenage fathers, caregivers, learner support agents and educators
- Photographic exhibition on everyday fatherhood and intergenerational care
Images from the conference: TEENAGE FATHERS AND MASCULINITIES IN SOUTH AFRICA
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Professor Lakshmi Lingam Academic Visit to UKZN
15–17 September 2025
During her visit, Professor Lingam will facilitate a series of workshops and consultations aimed at strengthening the research and writing skills of Master’s and PhD students. Her sessions will focus on key aspects of qualitative research, including Analysing Qualitative Data, Writing an Effective Literature Review Chapter, Developing a Theoretical Framework, and Best Practices for Conducting Individual Interviews and Focus Group Discussions. Through these engagements, Professor Lingam aims to enhance students’ research capacity and analytical skills in conducting and presenting qualitative research.
Young People, Gender And Digital Life Today Conference. 15 September 2025. Durban, South Africa. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIE_09hsAJM
Programme
Monday, 15 September 2025
08h00 – 17h00
Premier Splendid Inn
Umhlanga, Durban
This one-day conference hosted by the SARChI (Gender and Childhood Sexuality), University of KwaZulu-Natal, convenes a community of scholars, practitioners and advocates to examine young people’s experiences of gender, sexuality and digital life today.
Images from the conference: Young People, Gender & Digital Life Today
UKZN NdabaOnline – Volume 13 | Issue 39
Stellenbosch University Centre for Science Communication, Achieving accuracy in medical journalism Webinar. The state of sexual and reproductive health education in South Africa. Webinar 4: Medical misinformation and sexual health. 5 September 2025.
Transforming Education for Gender Justice: Building Critical Awareness in Community Education”. Department of Community Education, Universitas Negeri Jakarta. Indonesia. 29 July 2025. https://fip.unj.ac.id/pls/visiting-lecture-transforming-education-for-gender-justice-building-critical-awareness-in-community-education-oleh-prof-deevia-bhana/
4th International Conference on Early Childhood Care, Education and Parenting (4th ICECCEP). Decolonising Early Childhood: Gendered Realities in the Global South. West Java, Indonesia. 26 July 2025.
https://web.seameo-ceccep.org/
https://seameo-ceccep.org/iceccep/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06yU3GzEfHw
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Global Goals, Local Classrooms: Transforming Education for Gender Justice. Center for Gender and Childhood Studies, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia. 24 July 2025.
UNGEI and the South African National Departments of Basic Education and Higher Education and Training G20 Side Event: Education for Gender Equality and Peace – Advancing Gender Transformative Education for all. Durban, University of KwaZulu Natal. 1 July 2025
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The University of KwaZulu-Natal, the SARChI in Gender and Childhood Sexuality, HEARD and the University of Copenhagen cordially invites you to the virtual book launch of
Young Masculinities and Sexual Health in Southern Africa
Edited by Deevia Bhana, Morten Skovdal & Kaymarlin Govender
This launch brings together research that examines how young men navigate sexuality, gender, power, and health in diverse settings in Southern Africa. Through thematic chapters covering love, pleasure, social norms, risk, and HIV, the book emphasises the global importance of engaging young men in fostering gender equality and promoting healthier sexual practices. The book provides valuable insights for developing effective sexual health interventions that recognise and embrace ‘other’ masculinities.
Date: Wednesday, 25 June 2025
Time: 14h00 – 15h30 SAST
Registration Link: ZOOM
Call for Abstracts Recent global evidence highlights the deep connections between planetary health and human reproduction. The degradation of planetary health has significant repercussions on human well-being, particularly reproductive health. Africa, with its limited economic and technological resources, is particularly vulnerable to these challenges. This conference seeks to explore how planetary health and its driving forces shape reproductive practices in Africa.
The central question guiding this conference is: How are planetary health challenges reshaping reproductive practices in Africa?
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Global South Forum (10.30 am – 12 pm, 29th November 2024):
Problematising Developmentalism in Global South Early Childhood Education
Developmental theories have long been influential and dominant in shaping policy, practice, and research in Early Childhood Education (Blaise, 2005; Gabriel, 2020; Wood & Hedges, 2016), including the often-associated brain theories and neurosciences. Key understandings of (early) child development include that children follow shared patterns of development at different stages of their growth; that the development is predictable and earlier-stage development provides the basis for later stages; that development spans across five main domains such as physical, cognitive, communication/language, social, and emotional; and that development must be holistic and cover all domains (Xu, Brooks, Gao, & Kitto, 2024). A prevailing approach to early childhood education underpinned by developmental theories is Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) (Copple & Bredekamp, 2009; Gestwicki, 2013).
Global Childhoods Research Group (GCRG) and University of Nottingham Webinar: Meet with Journal Editors in Global Studies: A webinar series supporting inclusive academic publishing and capacity building for less experienced authors in global childhood studies. 13 November 2024.
Shaping Inclusive Futures: Gender Concepts and Curriculum Design in Education
Date: Monday, 11 November 2024
Time: 10:00 – 11:30
Venue: Microsoft TEAMS
BAICE (British Association for International and Comparative International Education) international webinar series: Reaching the most marginalized: Gender Equality in Education and Employment. Reflecting on Gender Inequalities in South African Education: Boys, Girls, and Violence. 24 September 2024.
2nd Symposium on Care and Support for Teaching and Learning: “A Response to Ending Learning Poverty”. ‘Our children are not safe’: Mothers’ Struggle to Address Gender and Sexual Violence in Schools, Gauteng, South Africa, 3-4 September 2024.
CALL FOR PAPERS
International Symposium on Global South Studies 2024
DUE JUNE 12, 2024
August 19 – 22, 2024
Hybrid – Online & Nha Trang, Vietnam
Centralizing the South in the Global Context:
Troubling What’s Known & Re-imagining What’s Unknown
The Global South, for sociologists like Auguste Comte, Herbert Spencer, Emile Durkheim, and Lester Frank Ward, is a social, cultural, and political concept that denotes a global divide drawing broad distinctions between advanced and
primitive institutions and societies (Dados & Connell, 2012). The phrase Global South refers to the regions of Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania. As are colonial discourse in social and sociological theory that defines geopolitical power relations, Global South is one of a family of terms, including “Periphery”, which implies regions outside Europe and North America, mostly (though not all) low-income and often politically or culturally marginalized.
Dr Estel Malgosa Gasol Academic Visit UKZN Edgewood College 19 July – 15 August 202
The School of Education is pleased to welcome Dr Estel Malgosa Gasol, an economist and anthropologist from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, for an academic visit from July 19 to August 15, 2024. Dr Gasol, a member of the AFIN Research Group, focuses on the intersections of sexuality, gender, and childhood. Her research explores how children construct, experience and narrate their sexuality and gender identities within public schools in Barcelona.
During her visit, Dr Gasol will lead a discussion on the SexAFIN Project, addressing sexuality, gender and sexual education at a local-global level. She will conduct workshops on sexuality and sexuality education in schools, data analysis and writing for publication. Additionally, she will deliver a lecture on gender, sexuality and the school curriculum for B.Ed. Honours students and engage in collaborative discussions with colleagues. Her visit aims to enhance the understanding of sexuality and gender issues among faculty and students, fostering collaborative research efforts and contributing significantly to the academic and research environment at UKZN.
Accidental Queer Prof. Marc Epprecht (Queen’s University)
Discussant: Prof. Deevia Bhana (DSI/NRF South African Research Chair in Gender and Childhood Sexuality, UKZN)
When: Saturday, 6 July 2024
Where: Bessie Head Library Auditorium, 260 Church Street, Pietermaritzburg
Time: 09h30 for 10h00
RSVP to: Calda de Vries (devriesc@kzndsac.gov.za) by 3rd July 2024
Bronte Garden Hotel- Harare 27 – 28 June 2024
Conceiving Change Conference Programme
Writing Workshop @WUA 26 June 2024
Bronte Garden Hotel Harare 23-29 June
Dr Francesca Salvi Academic Visit to UKZN
June 17th- June 20th
The School of Education is delighted to host Dr Francesca Salvi, Assistant Professor at the University of Nottingham, from June 17-20 2024.
Dr Salvi is an interdisciplinary social scientist specialising in the transitions between childhood and adulthood, with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa.
Her research explores how global discourses of teenage pregnancy and parenthood intersect with education and employment.
During her visit, Dr Salvi will lead several workshops and lectures, including a SARChI Working Papers workshop, a session on writing a methodology chapter and a discussion on collaboration and interdisciplinarity in research. These sessions aim to enhance the research skills and knowledge of our faculty and students, fostering academic collaboration and inspiring innovative research in education. Dr Salvi’s visit promises to advance our understanding of critical educational issues.
The School of Education is honoured to host Associate Professor Yuwei Xu from the University of Nottingham for a week-long academic visit from April 8-12 2024. Professor Xu, a distinguished sociologist with expertise in early childhood education and gender studies, will deliver the keynote address at the SARChI one-day conference, “Reimagining Gender and Sexuality in Global South Early Childhood Education,” on April 8 2024, in Durban. Throughout the week, he will lead several insightful workshops and lectures, including sessions on writing for publication, crafting effective literature review chapters and exploring theoretical frameworks in gender studies. These sessions aim to enhance the research skills and knowledge of our faculty and students. Professor Xu’s visit is set to foster academic collaboration and inspire innovative research in education.
Reimagining Gender and Sexuality in Global South Early Childhood Education Conference. 8 April 2024. Durban, South Africa. https://www.youtube.com/live/euBt9kcVXJw
Programme
8 April 2024
8:30AM-4:30PM
The Southern Sun Elangeni & Maharani Hotel
Suite 4-5, Elangeni Tower
Early Childhood Education (ECE) has long grappled with the complexities of understanding and addressing gender and sexuality. Given the dominance of childhood sexual innocence, research and debate around these issues are often subdued and avoided. Grounded in colonial and postcolonial discourses, this conference aims to challenge the prevailing silence and confront the systemic reproduction of heteronormative and gendered ideologies within ECE settings. We seek to address several questions: What underlying assumptions continue to hinder the recognition and integration of gender and sexuality as vital components in ECE? How can we move beyond developmental models that perpetuate gender binaries and reinforce normative notions of sexuality, towards more inclusive and transformative approaches? In what ways do dominant discourses on childhood perpetuate notions of innocence and passivity erasing children’s capacity and lived experiences? How can we understand the intersection of race, space, class within the postcolony in shaping understandings of gender and sexuality in Global South ECE contexts? And finally, we ask, what are the transformative potentials of centering gender and sexuality in ECE research, policy, and practice for promoting social justice and gender equality.
One Day Conference-Reimagining Gender & Sexuality in Global South pdf download
Empowering Education in the Digital Age: Reflections on the Last Decade and Future Directions
Conference Venue: https://ucl.zoom.us/j/92497314393?pwd=Y1B6dzF4ckRnZVVJcnJaZmswOFk0QT09
Thursday, 30 November 2023
Chair: Enze Guo and Fang Xu
Masculinities, social justice and education webinar Hosted by Professor Amanda Keddie, Swarthmore College
When: 29th November, 6pm-8pm EST
The current moment is both rich with possibilities and beset with new challenges for gender
justice. New collective engagements with feminism have coincided with renewed scrutiny on the social construction of masculinities. While research, education and activism in this area is rich and longstanding, the current moment represents an opportunity for new conversations and ways of thinking in our work with men and boys for social justice.
This panel focuses on masculinities, social justice and education. It brings together renowned scholars across the globe to share their ideas about useful and productive theories or concepts for thinking and understanding masculinities, social and/or climate justice and education.
The panel
Naobi Way, New York University
Deevia Bhana, University of KwaZulu-Natal
Matt Pinkett, Author and Teacher Adam Howard, Colby College Joseph Nelson, Swarthmore College Anna Hickey-Moody, Maynooth University Garth Stahl, The University of Queensland
Carolyn Jackson, University of Lancaster
Please join us for this engaging and important event!
Here is the registration link: Register in advance for this webinar:
https://swarthmore.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_lOZS3_bzR8Si6F6x4wpLLQ
Registration QR code is also on the attached flyer
Invitation: Book Launch
Sexuality education for gender justice in South African contexts: pitfalls and possibilities
Join us for the virtual launch of this publication by Professors Tamara Shefer and Sisa Ngabaza (UWC) with Professor Deevia Bhana (UKZN) as discussant.
Date: Thursday, 16 November 2023 from 14:00 – 15:00
RSVP: to gabriela.pinheiro@up.ac.za to obtain the link.
Invitation Shefer Ngabaza Download
Stephen Ombere (Maseno University), Lillian Owoko (Maseno University), Nolwazi Mkhwanazi (University of Pretoria), and Deevia Bhana (University of KwaZulu-Natal ) are convening this conference to enable an exchange of ideas between a number of people from South Africa and Kenya about families, kinship and care.
“Safe Surfing”: Gender, Sexuality and Young People’s Digital Connections
Date: 02 October 2023
Time: 08:30 – 16:30
Venue: The Capital Pearls Umhlanga
Room: Ultramarine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNfyo36_U54
For young people, online surfing has become the ‘new normal.’ As early as the age of 13, young people worldwide gain access to a multitude of social media platforms, such as Instagram, TikTok, and more, providing opportunities for entertainment, information and communication, relationship building and social connections. These connections serve as crucial spaces for expressing gender and sexuality, exploring sexual curiosities and developing new intimacies and relationships. However, online surfing is also entangled with normative understandings of gender and sexuality, violence, harassment, and abuse, posing a significant threat to young people’s emerging sexualities, especially affecting young women and girls.
Keynote Address
2nd International Conference on Sustainable Development Goals & Gender Perspective (ICSDGAGP2022) (Online mode)
Dates: 15-16 December 2022
Faculty coordinators: Dr. Vasundhara Mahajan & Dr. Anandita Chowdhury, DoEE SVNIT Surat.
Organized by: Department of Electrical Engineering, Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology (SVNIT), Surat, Gujarat – 395007, India.
Conference website: https://sites.google.com/eed.svnit.ac.in/icsdgagp-2022/home
Institute website: https://www.svnit.ac.in
Brochure: Download
The International Research Association of Institutions of Advanced Gender Studies (RINGS) Conference and Annual Meeting 2022
Topic: Decolonising Feminisms. Hosted by UKZN, Durban
Attachments
Date: 11 October
Webinar African cities: what place for the youth?
Topic: “Challenging Cities: Young Men, Masculinity and Violence”
The programme is available using the link below:
https://africancitieslab.org/en/african-cities-what-role-for-the-youth/
This event is the first of five events that takes place annually, once in each of the 5 countries that are part of the Re-imagining Reproduction: Making babies, making kin and citizens in Africa project. The keynote speakers will discuss the idea of whether there is a need to re-imagine scholarship on reproduction in Africa, what this might look like and/or what this might achieve.
Future Africa. Hosted by REPRODUCTION IN AFRICA New Horizons
Attachments
The University of Pretoria, in collaboration with the University of KwaZulu-Natal and the Centre for Social Research in Health (CSRH), cordially invites you to the launch of Gender, Sexuality and Sexual Health in Southern Africa.
Sex, sexuality and sexual health are often viewed through a narrowly biomedical lens. This ignores the fact that they are profoundly social and historical in character. Recent work in Southern Africa (and beyond) has sought to challenge this perspective, asking important questions about how to move beyond notions of damage and risk in relation to sex, sexuality and health, to a focus on recognition, rights, respect and pleasure.
Building on the contributions in the recently published book – Sex, Sexuality and Sexual Health in Southern Africa – and the experiences of seminar participants, this event will take the lid off these and related concerns.
This event will be of special interest to scholars, health professionals, community workers and activists seeking new ways of understanding and engaging with old issues
Date: 31 August 2022
Time: 15h00 – 17h30
Venues: Future Africa Auditorium, Hillcrest Campus and Online
Enquiries: danolien.vandenberg@up.ac.za
Attachments
- Programme
PROGRAMME_Troubling Others Thinking Other(wise)- Booking Information
Sexual Health Book Information- Event Poster
Troubling Others Thinking Other(wise)- Call for Participation
Call for Participation_Troubling Others Thinking Other(wise)-min
Expert Roundtable on Gender-Based Violence in Institutions of Higher Learning: Plenary Panel I 10:30 – 12:00: Exploring the concept and nature of GBV, causes and influencing factors in institutions of higher learning A project of the Law Trust Chair in Social Justice (Professor Thuli Madonsela), Law Faculty, Stellenbosch University
25 August 2022 09:00 SAST at STIAS, Stellenbosch University
Programme
I SexAFIN International Virtual Conference “(Re)thinking about comprehensive sexuality education from a child-centered and gendered perspective”. 2nd Conference day: Strategies of CSE. https://en.sexafin-conference.afinbarcelona.com/
Topic: Comprehensive Sexuality Education and Young Children: Needed and Denied.
British Sociological Association New Materialisms study group seminar.
Topic: ‘Teenage girls and the entanglement with online porn: A new feminist materialist perspective’
PsySSA 2022 Workshop Series: Workshop 1 – Sexual consent in young adults: A moment or a movement?
Topic: Sexual Consent: Sex, Power and Young People