‘We Are Crying for Help’: National Women’s Shutdown Gains Momentum Ahead of G20 Summit
Viable News Team 
Johannesburg, South Africa The Women for Change organization has reported an overwhelming response to its call for a national shutdown on 21 November, aimed at highlighting the urgent crisis of gender-based violence (GBV) in South Africa.
In recent days, many South Africans have shown their support by changing their social media profile pictures to purple, a symbolic gesture of solidarity with victims and survivors of GBV.
Merlize Jogiat, spokesperson for Women For Change, said the organisation is urging the government to treat GBV with the same urgency as other national emergencies.
“There is a framework around the declaration of a national disaster, and if you go through it, you’ll see that GBV meets the criteria,” Jogiat said.
She drew a parallel with the response to the Covid-19 pandemic, when declaring it a national disaster unlocked resources and finances to address the crisis. “What we want is the same effect that Covid-19 had when it was declared a disaster. Resources and finances were released to mitigate immediate issues,” she added.
Jogiat emphasized that declaring GBV a national disaster would compel government departments, police, and the justice system to confront their shortcomings. “A lot of these women are killed after not being able to open a case because police officers send them back or the judicial system fails them. There is so much brokenness in the system, and we have to change it from the inside,” she said.
The timing of the shutdown is deliberate, coinciding with the two-day G20 Summit in Johannesburg. Jogiat explained that the summit provides an opportunity to draw international attention to South Africa’s GBV crisis.
“We understand that the world’s eyes are going to be on South Africa. But we don’t think there are enough eyes from our own government or communities on the scourge of GBV. This is the perfect opportunity to get everyone’s attention on how desperately we are crying for help as women in South Africa,” she said.
The planned shutdown reflects growing frustration with the slow pace of reform and accountability in tackling GBV, a problem that continues to devastate communities across the country.
Jogiat called on all South Africans to participate in the shutdown and the purple profile picture campaign, saying, “We need to show solidarity, to make our voices heard, and to demand that our government treat this crisis with the urgency it deserves.”
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