South African women's rights groups are calling for nationwide protests to demand that gender-based violence (GBV) be declared a national disaster in a country where attacks on women have become commonplace.
The campaign began with a viral social media movement and will culminate in a nationwide shutdown on Friday, ahead of the G20 Summit in Johannesburg.
Celebrities, citizens and nations have shown their solidarity by changing their social media profile pictures to purple – a colour often linked to GBV awareness.
South Africa experiences some of the world's highest levels of GBV, with the rate at which women are killed five times higher than the global average, according to UN Women.
Between January and March this year, 137 women were murdered and more than 1,000 raped, according to South African crime statistics.
On Friday, women are being urged to refrain from going to work or school, withdraw from the economy for one day, and lie down for 15 minutes at 12:00 local time (10:00 GMT) in honour of the 15 women who are murdered in the country every day.
The lie downs are happening in 15 locations across South Africa, including major cities such as Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg. Allies in Eswatini, Kenya and Namibia have also expressed their support for the protest.
The protest, dubbed the G20 Women's Shutdown, has been organised by Women for Change, which has also been spearheading the online campaign. There has also been an online petition, signed by over one million people, calling for the government to take an even tougher stance against the scourge.
Despite the activism, the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) has rejected the calls to declare GBV a national disaster, saying it doesn't fall within the legal requirements. President Cyril Ramaphosa has previously responded to calls, stating that South Africa declared gender-based violence and femicide a national crisis in 2019. However, activists argue that little has changed.
Cameron Kasambala, a spokesperson for Women for Change, criticized the government's lack of implementation and transparency regarding existing measures aimed at combatting GBV. She noted, We've integrated violence into our culture and social norms, emphasizing the need for the government to act decisively.
As the G20 Summit approaches, the protest represents a significant effort by women in South Africa to draw attention to the systemic issues surrounding gender-based violence, demanding better accountability and action from their leaders.
