Written by Sabrina Walter, Founder of Women For Change

As 2025 began, I already knew we were carrying too much. We ended the previous year exhausted and under relentless harassment, while mourning the loss of more women - including Ntoxolo and Chelsney. Once again, survivors had been failed, and government promises had led nowhere. It became clear that continuing as before was no longer an option.

Despite strong laws on paper, the reality remained unchanged: organisations like Women For Change operate without institutional funding, survivors struggle to access help, and accountability is rare. After extensive discussions with our team and partners, we launched a petition calling on the President to declare Gender-Based Violence and Femicide a National Disaster - not as a symbol, but as a mechanism for accountability.

On 11 April, amid national outrage following the alleged rape of little Cwecwe, we handed over the petition at the Union Buildings and launched Unbury The Casket - a campaign exposing how GBVF has been buried under silence and inaction. The casket carried 5,578 purple beads, representing the women murdered in just one year. Our petition reached 150,000 signatures - and then stalled.

In May, the murder of Olorato shook the country and revealed devastating systemic failures. Women came forward, cases resurfaced, and once again perpetrators were found to have been released on bail. By Women’s Month, with no response from the government, we knew we had to escalate.

Women For Change announced a national G20 Women’s Shutdown - deliberately scheduled for the day before the G20 Summit - using an international platform to force global attention onto South Africa’s GBVF crisis. The response was immediate. Support poured in, posts were shared, and momentum grew. Then, on a Friday evening, I saw a TikTok video by a woman we followed. “On the 21st, we’re wearing black. We’re turning our profile pictures purple,” she said.  By the next morning, TikTok was purple. Then Instagram. Then Facebook. Mall of Africa lit up purple. Days later, our website crashed as hundreds of thousands searched for information. Media from around the world began calling - podcasts, radio, television - nonstop for two weeks. More than 15,000 messages flooded our platforms. What began as a campaign became a global movement.

On 14 November, one week before the shutdown, the government requested an emergency meeting. That same day, our petition reached one million signatures. One million people had said enough.

On 18 November, I spoke at the opening of the G20 Social Summit, saying what needed to be said: that government action was long overdue and women had been failed. On 20 November - one day before the shutdown - President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that GBVF would be classified as a National Disaster.

On 21 November, while driving to the Sea Point shutdown site - one of 15 nationwide - I received confirmation that the declaration had been signed. That day, hundreds of thousands of people lay down across South Africa and around the world in 15 minutes of silence. Names were read. Bodies lay on pavements, campuses, beaches, and parks. Grief became visible.

By then, women, men, and children - alongside media, corporates, celebrities, and universities - had joined the G20 Women’s Shutdown. 

We did it. We silenced the nation.

As we move into 2026, Women For Change is preparing to launch our own Survivor Support Line, expand digital access for survivors and families, continue powerful advocacy campaigns, and closely monitor the implementation of the National Disaster declaration - because declarations mean nothing without action.

Because for women in South Africa, this fight is not seasonal.

It is daily. And it is far from over.