Gender-based violence (GBV) and Femicide have not only become a social problem in South Africa; they have become an unsettling reality, a horror story, a systemic crisis. The latest data and civil society testimonies reveal that women across South Africa are under threat in their own homes, on the streets, and within the institutions that are meant to protect them. The activist organisation Women For Change (WFC) has emerged as one of the most powerful voices against this national crisis, gathering survivors, making their stories heard, and demanding accountability from authorities. WFC has combined data-driven advocacy with survivor-centred storytelling to reveal the degree of violence and the lived realities of women in South Africa.

This article provides an overview of Women For Change’s fight for justice and safety, campaigns which led to gender-based violence being named a national disaster in South Africa in November 2025, and highlights why the crisis remains far from over.

 

Gender-based Violence: the Scale of the Crisis

If one is to understand the urgency of WFC’s activism, they must start with the numbers. The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC)’s landmark First South African National Gender-Based Violence Study (2022) gives a foundational dataset. This study revealed that 33.1% of South African women over the age of 18 have experienced physical violence in their lifetime. Moreover, over 1.5 million women reported physical and/or sexual violence in the 12 months prior to the study, according to media coverage of the same HSRC study.

These figures are deeply concerning in a country where most cases are not reported and under-reporting is a well-known barrier to justice. Even though most GBV cases go unreported, the reported crime statistics still reveal a shocking reality.

According to recent government and civil-society sources, more than 42,000 rape cases were recorded in both the 2019/2020 and the 2022/2023 fiscal years. Regarding femicide, WFC’s own reporting claims that 5,578 women were murdered in 2023/2024, representing a 33.8% increase from the previous year.

Geographically, provinces such as Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, and Western Cape report very high numbers of GBV. These statistics align with a broader national trend: despite existing legal frameworks, femicide and intimate partner violence remain persistent or worsening. In June 2025, Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga, Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and People with Disabilities of South Africa, publicly expressed alarm at the escalating reports of femicide. Concern shown by the South African government reflects just how bad the situation in South Africa is.

An important question in this context, is what happens next? Does the justice system serve or fail the victims of GBV? South Africa’s Beijing +30 Report (submitted to UN Women) reveals mixed outcomes: in 2022/2023, the number of prosecutions for perpetrators convicted for femicide was approximately 61.6%, while the conviction rate for sexual offences was around 74.8%. These numbers demonstrate that although prosecutions do happen in the country, many of the survivors and their families still face long and uncertain paths to justice.

Victims of Gender-based Violence: the Lived Reality

Image credits: Women for Change

Numbers cannot depict the stories of those who have lived experiences of GBV. Women for Change has given many victims an opportunity to make their voices heard and has been the voice for those women who are not able to speak up for themselves.

Roots and Reach of Women for Change

Founded by Sabrina Walter in 2016 after the murder of Franziska Blöchliger, Women for Change is a non-profit organisation that raises awareness and campaigns against Gender Based Violence and Femicide. This activist group has since become a major force for change in South Africa’s civil society. The group uses social media, public protests, and symbolic actions to push for greater accountability. They have a significant online presence, with over 520,000 followers.

WFC’s advocacy rests on four main pillars:

  1. Amplifying awareness of GBV and femicide
  2. Educating the public about prevention and survivors’ rights
  3. Providing trauma-informed, accessible support and referrals
  4. Advocating for justice, policy change, and systemic reform

The Unburied Casket: a case study

One of WFC’s most powerful symbolic acts was on April 11, 2025, when they created an oversized casket that was around 30% larger than a normal one. The casket was decorated with thousands of handwoven Zulu beads. Each bead represented a woman who has lost their life to femicide. The casket was carried in a public demonstration through Pretoria to the Union Buildings, and presented to the Presidency alongside a petition of 152,000 signatures calling for the declaration of GBV as a national disaster.

This was not just a performative act, but a very effective campaign that moved the nation and held political and public attention. It was a true symbol of the grief, struggle and frustration of women and children in South Africa.

Image credits: Binghamton

#PurpleForSA & the 15-Minute Silent Lie-Down Protest

In November 2025, during the G20 Summit in Johannesburg, WFC launched the #PurpleForSA campaign. Landmarks were lit in purple and thousands of citizens used purple imagery on their social media platforms and online profile pictures to honour victims and to demand change. WFC further called for a nationwide shutdown, urging women and LGBTQI+ people to withdraw from paid and unpaid labour and to dress all in black on the 21st of November 2025. This was to demonstrate the economic value of women and highlight what society loses when women are silenced by violence. These events sparked global media interest and amplified pressure on the South African government.

In response, the South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, officially announced gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) as a national disaster on November 20th, 2025.

On the 21st of November 2025, Women for Change orchestrated a 15-minute nationwide silent lie-down protest, as a symbol of the thousands of women whose lives have been stripped away. Across streets, campuses, offices, parks, beaches and other public areas, participants were dressed in black and lay on the ground in complete silence.

Through these efforts and bold demonstrations, Women for Change forced a national conversation that did not only speak about violence, but also about how society must recognise the scale, urgency, and systemic nature of GBV and Femicide.

Key Insights on Gender-based Violence – in South Africa and beyond

  1. Prevalence is devastating but partially hidden.
  • The HSRC data shows that a large percentage of women experience violence, but underreporting is still a major barrier to justice.
  • WFC’s activism and its documentation and digital campaign work helps surface cases that might otherwise be lost or turned away by the state or by social silence.
  1. Systemic failure continues.
  • The conviction rates for GBV-related crimes suggest some accountability, but not enough to demolish the pervasive culture of impunity.
  • There is a very high volume of ongoing cases, the backlog of court proceedings, and delayed justice adds on to survivors’ suffering.
  1. Civil society is filling critical gaps.
  • Women for Change is playing a crucial part in GBV awareness through awareness campaigns, community mobilisation, and symbolic protests. The organisation is transforming GBV, from a private tragedy, to a public state of emergency.
  • The WFC casket project, petition handovers, and social media activism make visible what is often kept silent.
  1. The personal is political.
  • Survivor narratives humanise the statistics, by engaging the public emotionally and morally.
  • Emotional engagement is a powerful mobilising tool, but it also carries risk when activists and survivors face pushback, stigma, and institutional resistance.

The Ongoing Struggle for Gender Equality and Justice

Women For Change are undeniably powerful, a force to be reckoned with, but they cannot fix this crisis alone. Some of the main concerns are:

  • Sustainability: Large social media reach and viral campaigns are vital, but they can be episodic as people tend to lose focus or move on to other issues quickly. For the change to be sustained, there has to be institutional reform, long-term funding dedicated to these movements, and consistent pressure on the South African government.
  • Government inertia: Despite public pressure, petitions, and campaigns, the government has historically been slow to treat GBV as a national emergency. The call to declare GBV a “national disaster”, the core of WFC’s shutdown demand in November, highlights that there was, and still is, frustration with bureaucratic delays.
  • Risk to activists: Speaking out, sharing survivor stories, and confronting powerful institutions can pose violence, public backlash, and risk the lives of both activists and survivors.
  • Intersectionality: It remains a challenge for successful organisations, like WFC, to tackle all dimensions of GBV cases, as the issue affects women differently depending on race, class, sexuality, disability, and other identities.

Actions for Gender-based Violence

The reality for many women in South Africa is jarring. The presence of physical, sexual, and emotional violence is deeply ingrained, and institutional protections are still not able to protect women. Organisations such as Women for Change are demanding recognition, compassion, and justice for women and children.

However, activism alone is not enough. Activists Without Borders calls for:

  • Full implementation of emergency GBV disaster-response measures.
  • The South African Government to allocate more money towards survivor-centred services (legal, medical, and psychological), and to make these services more accessible to all women and children, especially in underserved communities.
  • We call for change in the accountability reforms in the criminal justice system: faster trials, better prosecution, and stronger protection for survivors. No one should fear going home.
  • Community-level prevention strategies that go deeper into addressing the root causes: patriarchal norms, economic inequality, cultural acceptance of violence, and access to therapy for men, women, and children.

Women For Change exemplifies courage, resilience, and strategic activism, however, the fight against GBV in South Africa needs broader structural change, global solidarity, and urgent political will. #AmINext