Women for Change take their petition to the Pretoria Union Buildings in a call for justice against gender-based violence and femicide.
- The group wants gender-based violence and femicide to be declared a national disaster
- Over 1500 signatures in support of the call have been secured
- Activists say a state of emergency would unlock key resources
The Women for Change movement took a stand on Friday, April 11, at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, to hand over their petition declaring gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) a national disaster.
The non-profit organisation argues that the petition is the result of government inaction in the face of increasing cases of GBV. Despite the government adopting the National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide in 2020, “on the ground, we haven’t felt any difference,” said Sabrina Walter, the founder of Women for Change.
The handover of the petition is the culmination of a social media campaign which saw the organisation garner over 1500 signatures in support of its call.
The organisation’s website shows that 5 578 women and 1 656 children were killed between April 2023 to March 2024, with over 42 000 rape cases reported and an estimated 95% not reported. Above this, according to the second-quarter SAPS report for 2024 (between July and September), 12 764 sexual offences and 10 191 rape cases were reported, all in just three months.
“The silence surrounding these statistics is deafening, perhaps because the lives of women and children are undervalued in South Africa,” said Walter.
“We’d expect an emergency task force … urgent deployment of resources and funding … in cases of misconduct, we demand that police, court officials, and others be held accountable. The missing element is political will. There’s simply no urgency on this matter,” explained Walter.
Educator Lu Simatele, from Girls Against Oppression, agreed: “If you declare it [GBV] a National Disaster, it forces the government to legitimately look at it as an epidemic, legitimately look at it as a disease.”
Simatele said GBV needs to be tackled the same way the covid-19 pandemic was. “You know, for example, when covid-19 hit and they had to declare it a state of emergency, I think very much the same thing has to happen with gender-based violence because we really need to unlock emergency funding …adequate resourcing, multisectoral interventions, coordination, the police, health systems, the justice system, and not only do they need to be adequate, they need to held accountable but at a crisis level of importance and action because it is actually a crisis.”
Speaking about the impact they expect the protest to make Walter said, “If women see our government finally treating GBVF as the emergency it is, it will send a powerful message. You matter. Your life matters. Your voice will be heard, and we believe you. When systems are in place to support and protect, more survivors will come forward.”
FEATURED IMAGE: Women for Change logo. Photo: Supplied
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