On November 25, 2025, the United Nations revealed that 137 women and girls had been “killed every day by intimate partners or family members in 2024.” That is one woman/girl “every 10 minutes.” The term “femicide” refers to this killing of women/girls, and it is a worldwide issue that the United Nations says has shown “no sign of real progress.”
In particular, South Africa has one of the highest rates of femicide in the world. According to Human Rights Watch, South Africa’s high rate of gender-based violence is “deeply rooted in societal norms” that maintain traditional gender roles and power dynamics that do not denounce male violence. In May 2025, 30-year-old Olorato Mongale was allegedly murdered by a man she went on a date with. Two suspects of the crime were reported by over 20 women to have been a part of a “romance dating scam” that allegedly kidnapped and robbed women while posing as suitors.
The G20 Women’s Shutdown
In response to the gender-based violence and femicide in South Africa, women and members of the LGBTQI+ community joined together for the “G20 Women’s Shutdown” on November 21, 2025. The protest called for participating community members to “refrain from all paid and unpaid work in workplaces, universities, and homes, and to spend no money for the entire day to demonstrate the economic and social impact of their absence.” Organizers of the protest claimed that “growth and progress” could not be spoken of by the government when so many women are being killed in South Africa.
One of the main goals of the G20 Women’s Shutdown was for femicide and gender-based violence to be labeled as a national disaster. Women for Change led the protest, organizing it to take place in time with the G20 Summit in Johannesburg. The protest asked participants to not work, not participate in the economy, wear black, change social media profiles to purple, and share the message behind the protest online. Also, at “15 nationwide meeting points,” those participating in the protest lied down for 15 minutes to “honour the 15 women murdered every day and bring South Africa to a complete standstill.”
The Impact
The G20 Women’s Shutdown sent a powerful message and has been characterized as an incredibly important event for moving in the right direction to end gender-based violence and femicide. News of the protest and the message behind it spread on social media, causing many users to show solidarity. Popular Australian Tiktoker Kat Clark released a video stating how awareness can spread globally: “If you’re not from South Africa and still want to help, you can do that by simply changing your profile picture to purple.” The colour purple has a historical significance in many women-led movements and evolved to become an important symbol for domestic violence prevention.
Women For Change’s petition to get gender-based violence and femicide declared as a national disaster had been previously given to the government in April 2025 but had been “ignored by the Presidency and the Department of Women.” Due to the efforts of the protesters in South Africa, the petition ended up receiving over one million signatures, causing the government to deem gender-based violence and femicide as a national disaster. This declaration will allow for more resources and policies to go toward ending gender-based violence and femicide. In a speech at the G20 Social Summit, the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, also called on boys and men to fight back against/change the “attitudes and structures” that have normalized violence against girls and women.
Women and LGBTQI+ community members in South Africa have come together to help bring South Africa closer to ending gender-based violence and femicide. Their actions have denounced South Africa’s high rate of gender-based violence and the lack of government intervention. Also, they have created social media discussions that continue to highlight how gender-based violence and femicide is a global issue that needs to be brought to an end.
Gender-Based Violence in Canada
In Canada, gender-based violence continues to be a large issue as well. About 102 women/girls are victims of femicide every year in Canada with 93% of perpetrators being a male partner or family member. The government of Canada also highlights that most victims of gender-based violence are women/girls that are Indigenous, black/”racialized,” immigrants/refugees, part of the 2SLGBTQI+ community, have disabilities, or live in remote areas. Also, the government of Canada calls attention to the fact that human trafficking and sexual assault are “highly gendered crimes” that impact women and 2SLGBTQI+ members.
Efforts have been put in place to raise awareness for gender-based violence and adjacent issues. For example, the third Thursday of October is recognized by the Ontario Brain Injury Association to raise awareness for the “intersection between brain injury and intimate partner violence with a goal to eliminate it” by wearing purple.
PROTESTS in South Africa Demonstrate the need for Change
It is important to recognize the influence of “legacies of colonialism and apartheid, along with harsh economic inequality and harmful social norms” on the issue of gender-based violence and femicide in South Africa and the particular efforts of South African women/LGBTQI+ members to bring an end to the long-standing issue.
The rates of violence against women and other marginalized communities have remained stagnant for too long, and it is time for rates to decrease both in South Africa and globally until gender-based violence and femicide are brought to an end.