What Does “Vulnerability” Mean? San Representatives Define Vulnerability for Themselves

The Indigenous San peoples, often referred to as South Africa’s “First Peoples”, experienced a violent history of displacement and genocideGenocide. Modern-day San still suffer from the intergenerational traumaIntergenerational trauma inflicted by colonists as well as discriminationDiscrimination, marginalisationMarginalisation and impoverishment. In addition, the South African San are collectively labelled as a vulnerable group, whose inclusionInclusion in research should be reduced to a minimum if one follows traditional protection mechanisms from research ethics. The purpose of this chapter is to let the San define “vulnerability” for themselves through workshops and community-administered surveysSurvey. It became clear that San representatives did not perceive the word “vulnerable” to be pejorative per se. On the contrary, it served as a useful umbrella term to cover a vast range of issues and problems. However, it also became clear that the term is perceived as negative when external actors block research—in a potentially patronisingPatronising manner—that could be beneficial to the community. Equitable research partnershipsEquitable partnerships between researchers and South African San community members, facilitated by the South African San CouncilSouth African San Council and guided by the San Code of Research EthicsSan code of research ethics, can lead to rich data that have the potential to assist the community in finding ways out of vulnerability. Externally labellingLabelling them as “vulnerable” as a group and blocking access to research cannot be the solution.