Femicide

/ 19 March 2025

Data as a defence against femicide in South Africa

Two days after the world observed this year’s International Women’s Day on March 8, the sixty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) commenced at the United Nations’ Headquarters in New York. In 2025, members of the CSW global community will mark the adoption of the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for […]

By Tirhani Manganyi

Health

/ 10 October 2024

Here’s where women in SA are most likely to be murdered

Seven women are killed in the country each day and nearly six in 10 of such murders are at the hand of an intimate partner

By Linda Pretorius

Opinion

/ 30 August 2024

Austerity is a silent war on survivors of gender-based violence

The support systems that GBV survivors depend on are being damaged by cost cuts, making it harder for them to escape violence and seek justice

By Kerryn Rehse

Opinion

/ 10 April 2024

Women’s rights: Insidious discrimination an affront to collective humanity

It is up to actors at all levels of society to rescue institutionalised prejudice that undermines the freedom and dignity of women and girls

By Nontobeko Gcabashe

Opinion

/ 16 December 2023

Getting a sense: The issues blind women and girls face

We must recognise the intersectional issues that different communities face if we are to address gender-based violence adequately

By Aarti Bhana

Opinion

/ 23 October 2023

Africa must have permanent representation on UN Security Council

The British high commissioner to South Africa reflects on the value of the United Nations for the UK and South Africa to achieve shared objectives

By Antony Phillipson

Friday

/ 7 April 2023

‘Bitches Brew: Fast, feminist and furious

In their exhibition ‘Bitches Brew’, three South African artists juggle good manners and the grotesque

By Kimberley Schoeman

Friday

/ 27 November 2022

Art of activism: 16 artists against gender violence

Artists whose work speaks against gender violence is art as activism that shows the need for more than 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence

By Kimberley Schoeman

Opinion

/ 8 October 2022

Tackling gender-based violence and femicide requires collective effort

Government and civil society need to listen to those who are most at risk to ensure policies are effective

By Phinah Kodisang

Opinion

/ 18 April 2022

Criminalising gender-based violence is not enough

Despite strong legislation, South Africa is failing to address its unacceptable rates of woman abuse

By Deepa Vallabh

National

/ 10 December 2021

Gender-based violence shelters go without critical government funding

Nonprofit organisations that provide trauma counselling and shelter to survivors of rape and violence have had to shut their doors

By Marcia Zali

National

/ 1 October 2021

Police pursuing ‘specific lead’ in Khayelitsha triple murder

Suspects still at large following the execution-style killing of three women aged 17, 20 and 21

By Eunice Masson

National

/ 28 September 2021

Triple murder in Khayelitsha investigated by police

Three young women have been shot dead execution-style in one of Cape Town’s gang-riddled communities

By Eunice Masson

National

/ 27 September 2021

For many South African women, home is hell

Gender-based violence often takes place at home or in intimate relationships, taking a traumatic toll on victims, their families and friends

By Magnificent Mndebele

National

/ 8 July 2021

Hate killings of black lesbians in South Africa: 2008 to 2018

The second part of an edited extract from Femicide in South Africa (Kwela) by Nechama Brodie lists the names of black lesbians who were murdered, allegedly because of their sexual orientation

By Nechama Brodie

National

/ 1 July 2021

‘We only write about them when they are dead’: Hate killings of black lesbians in South Africa

In her book ‘Femicide in South Africa’, journalist and researcher Nechama Brodie examines the violent history the country’s black lesbians have endured

By Nechama Brodie

National

/ 22 June 2021

Facts and figures: Global domestic violence numbers

“Every day, on average, 137 women are killed by a member of their own family,” said Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director, in a statement released in March last year. These appalling figures are just one of the many consequences of gender-based violence and abuse, namely domestic abuse, which is defined as a pattern of behavior in any relationship that is used to gain or maintain power and control over an intimate partner

By Sparknews

Health

/ 29 April 2021

‘None of us are okay’: Frustration as South Africa’s GBV initiatives stall

SA is in a rush to roll out its national GBV action plan. But as bureaucracy and the pandemic slow progress, violence against women continues unabated

By Joan Van Dyk

Health

/ 14 April 2021

#SayHerName: The faces of South Africa’s femicide epidemic

This is an ode to the women whose names made it into news outlets from 2018 to 2020. It’s also a tribute to the faceless, nameless women whose stories remain untold.

By Media Hack and Bhekisisa Team

National

/ 24 March 2021

No council yet for gender-based violence — independent report details why

The interim steering committee tasked with setting up a gender-based violence and femicide structure has not been convened for almost two years

By Eunice Masson

Opinion

/ 23 February 2021

The threat of rape helps keep the vulnerable in line

Using an ever-present danger works to benefit men — no matter their education, profession, class or outward social behaviour

By Ayesha Fakie

Opinion

/ 20 February 2021

Simple interventions could cut violence against women

Measures such as better street lighting, training the police and enforcing gun control can effect real change

By Robyn Porteous

National

/ 5 February 2021

State, private sector launch gender-based violence fund

Funded by the private sector, the government will be able to ‘scale up’ initiatives against this second pandemic

By Eunice Masson

Editorial

/ 13 September 2020

Editorial: Even police stations are unsafe for women

If a man has the temerity to shoot a woman inside a police station, in front of law enforcement officers, then the country has an even bigger GBV problem than it thinks.

By Editorial

National

/ 27 August 2020

Real action on gender-based violence a pipe dream as women die every day

Backlogs, booze, testicular cancer — all factors blamed for the apparent ineptitude or unwillingness to tackle a pandemic that is silently killing women all over the country.

By Athandiwe Saba, Sarah Smit and M&G Data Desk

Editorial

/ 15 August 2020

Editorial: Women still want their day

Viwe Dalingozi’s story, like many others, is painful to read and write about. But in court it simply drags on like any other case. As we have written so many times, this cannot be the status quo.

By Editorial

Friday

/ 24 June 2020

The cyclical politics of help

Black women and trans artists are worthy of support but it should not come with terms and restrictions

By Zaza Hlalethwa

Article

/ 14 April 2020

The politics of guilt and the violence of the archive

During the lockdown, artists must rethink their place in the system. Now is the chance to advocate and appreciate the human condition of being constantly and chaotically in flux

By Thembeka Heidi Sincuba

Article

/ 24 March 2020

Safeguarding women’s rights during the Covid-19 shutdown

Women will be disproportionately affected by the coronavirus pandemic, particularly considering their contribution as caregivers, in both professional and domestic settings

By Susan Tolmay and Colleen Lowe Morna

Article

/ 4 March 2020

South Africa’s parole system has failed child victims

Justice minister embarks on parole reform after recent murders of two Western Cape children allegedly by parolees

By Lester Kiewit

Article

/ 8 November 2019

Witnesses could help get justice for Viwe

After initially overlooking key witnesses in one of the most horrific murder cases in South Africa, the state has brought them in to speak up

By Vukani Mde

Article

/ 2 October 2019

Violence is everyone’s problem; we must all act to stop it

Follow the principle of ‘do no harm’ and teach youth about their responsibilities and kindness

By Marc Lubner

Older posts

Data as a defence against femicide in South Africa

Here’s where women in SA are most likely to be murdered

Austerity is a silent war on survivors of gender-based violence

Women’s rights: Insidious discrimination an affront to collective humanity

Getting a sense: The issues blind women and girls face

Africa must have permanent representation on UN Security Council

‘Bitches Brew: Fast, feminist and furious

Art of activism: 16 artists against gender violence

Tackling gender-based violence and femicide requires collective effort

Police pursuing ‘specific lead’ in Khayelitsha triple murder

Triple murder in Khayelitsha investigated by police

For many South African women, home is hell

Hate killings of black lesbians in South Africa: 2008 to 2018

‘We only write about them when they are dead’: Hate killings of black lesbians in South Africa

Facts and figures: Global domestic violence numbers

No council yet for gender-based violence — independent report details why

The threat of rape helps keep the vulnerable in line

Simple interventions could cut violence against women

State, private sector launch gender-based violence fund

Editorial: Even police stations are unsafe for women

Real action on gender-based violence a pipe dream as women die every day

Editorial: Women still want their day

The cyclical politics of help

The politics of guilt and the violence of the archive

Safeguarding women’s rights during the Covid-19 shutdown

South Africa’s parole system has failed child victims

Witnesses could help get justice for Viwe

Violence is everyone’s problem; we must all act to stop it

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