Women’s rights organisations to stage shutdown against GBV

A woman raises her hand, calling for an end to GBV.

Various women’s rights organisations will on Friday stage a national shutdown in protest against alarming levels of gender-based violence (GBV) in the country.

The shutdown, led by Women for Change, urges South Africans to show solidarity by changing their profile pictures to purple.

National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) National Spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola says the scourge of gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) needs to be eradicated immediately.

“According to the statistics which were released by the SA Police Services, over 5 000 murders which were recorded…If we break that down, it comes to nine women being murdered a day. At the same time, we have got very high levels of sexual violence against children, boys or girls and it’s very clear to us that we are in a crisis. We have noted that the president has declared GBV as a national crisis. We are interested to hear more details of what that will mean in a practical sense.”

Speaking at the G20 Social Summit on Thursday, President Cyril Ramaphosa warned that South Africa is in the grip of a GBV crisis.

“The violence perpetrated by men against women in many countries around the world erodes the social fabric of nations. It imposes a heavy burden that constrains development and weakens inclusive growth. Men and boys are critical partners in transforming harmful norms and advancing gender justice. They must be actively involved in challenging inherited attitudes, power imbalances and social structures that normalise violence.”

On Friday, 21 November 2025, South African women will silence the nation.

We call on all women and members of the LGBTQI+ community across South Africa to refrain from all paid and unpaid work in workplaces, universities, homes, and communities to demonstrate the economic and… pic.twitter.com/9e0F8tXTFE

— Women For Change (@womenforchange5) October 29, 2025