- South Africa records a 33.8 percent rise in femicide within a single year, revealing a worsening crisis for women and children.
- Petition surpasses 500 000 signatures as women turn their profiles purple in protest, showing national and international support.
- Activists call for urgent measures including stronger opposition to bail, fully funded GBVF strategies, increased public accountability, and nationwide education campaigns.
A wave of purple is sweeping across South Africa as women and allies change their profile pictures to protest the rising Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) crisis. This is not just a trend, but a cry for help.
Every day, at least 15 women are murdered and 117 rape cases are reported to police. For many survivors, the threat comes from those they know and trust, including partners, ex-partners, relatives, and friends. Silence can be fatal.
Women For Change, the grassroots organisation documenting this violence, calls it a “relentless war” against women and children. The organisation states, “We refuse to die quietly. We have had enough.” The movement has received messages of support from around the world, highlighting how South Africa continues to “bury its women and call it normal life.”
Government inaction amid rising deaths
In 2020, Parliament adopted the National Strategic Plan on GBVF to improve accountability, coordination, and prevention. Yet activists say implementation has been slow and underfunded. From April 2023 to March 2024, 5 578 women and 1 656 children were killed, while 42 569 rape cases were reported. Only about five percent of sexual offences are formally reported.
“How many more women, children and vulnerable people should be killed or raped before this crisis is treated with the urgency it demands?” asks Women For Change. The organisation emphasises that public officials who mishandle GBVF complaints must face swift action, as delays cost lives.
The campaign demands urgent survivor-centred measures such as strict opposition to bail for perpetrators of GBVF crimes where evidence shows imminent danger, harsher sentencing without parole for gang rape, femicide, and child sexual abuse, mandatory psychological rehabilitation during incarceration, full funding and implementation of the National Strategic Plan, and public access to the National Sex Offenders Register. “These failures leave women to die behind closed doors,” Women For Change warns. “We need to be louder than the silence that kills us.”
A purple wave and national action
Within 24 hours, the petition surged past 500 000 signatures, doubling its support and aiming for one million. Women For Change emphasises that these numbers reflect real fear such as women planning escape routes, sleeping with furniture blocking their doors, and holding onto keys tightly while walking home. “Every voice counts. Every signature is a stand for life,” the movement says.
On Friday, 21 November 2025, South African women will silence the nation. Women and members of the LGBTQI+ community across the country are asked to refrain from all paid and unpaid work in workplaces, universities, and homes.
They are encouraged to spend no money for the entire day to show the economic, social, and cultural impact of their absence and demonstrate how vital women are to society. The movement insists that until South Africa stops burying a woman every 2.5 hours, the country cannot claim growth, progress, or equality.
“Because until South Africa stops burying a woman every 2.5 hours, the G20 cannot speak of growth and progress,” Women For Change states. The demand is urgent and clear for Gender-Based Violence and Femicide to be declared a National Disaster. “Not tomorrow. Not at another summit. Now,” the organisation says.
Supporters are urged to wear black, change their profile pictures to purple, and visibly stand in solidarity, amplifying the message that South African women and LGBTQI+ communities will no longer be silenced.
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