On 21 November, South African Women Will Silence the Nation
- Johané
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
On Friday, 21 November 2025, South Africa will witness an act of collective resistance unlike anything in its history. Women across the country will shut down workplaces, campuses, households, and the national economy to expose a devastating truth: Until South Africa stops burying a woman every 2.5 hours, the G20 cannot speak of growth and progress.
This nationwide action, known as the Women’s Shutdown, calls on all women to step away from society’s demands for just one day: No paid work. No unpaid labour. No care work. No emotional labour. No economic contribution. Because for one day, South Africa must confront what life looks like without women. One day. One message. Without women, South Africa stops.
A Nation in Mourning...and Resistance
Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) has reached catastrophic levels in South Africa:
A woman is murdered every 2.5 hours.
At least 15 women are killed every day.
117+ women report rape to the police daily, though only 5% of cases are believed to be reported.
These numbers are not statistics. They represent daughters, mothers, sisters, workers, leaders, and friends whose lives were stolen.
To symbolise this growing crisis, activists have created a powerful monument: a casket built 33.8% larger than a standard coffin, reflecting the 33.8% rise in femicide recorded by SAPS from April 2023 to March 2024. Every inch of the casket is woven in traditional Zulu art, with each purple bead representing one woman whose life was cut short.
This casket will remain unburied - a haunting reminder of the truth South Africa must confront. A truth activists vow to continue exposing until real change is realised. #UnburyTheTruth. Behind every bead is a full human life: a woman with dreams, with a future, with people who loved her. Their memory will never be buried.
A Call to Declare GBVF a National Disaster - Now
Women For Change and partnering organisations are demanding immediate action:
Gender-Based Violence and Femicide must be declared a National Disaster. Not in another summit. Not in another five-year plan. Now. Despite the adoption of the National Strategic Plan on GBVF in 2020 and the passing of the GBVF Council Bill in 2024, implementation has been slow, underfunded, and ineffective. Meanwhile, femicide rates continue to climb to their highest levels ever recorded.
Between April 2023 and March 2024 alone:
5,578 women were murdered.
1,656 children were killed.
42,569 rape cases were reported.
This is not a crisis, it is an emergency. A national disaster claiming more lives than many recognised disasters in South Africa’s history. The women of this country are no longer asking. They are demanding.
What the Shutdown Demands
Declaring GBVF a National Disaster would trigger urgent nationwide action. Activists are calling for:
1. Judicial and Legislative Reforms
Oppose bail in cases of rape, child sexual assault, domestic violence, attempted murder, and femicide.
Life imprisonment without parole for convicted perpetrators of gang rape, femicide, or child sexual assault.
Immediate disciplinary action against negligent police officers, court officials, and social workers.
2. Funding the National Strategic Plan
Urgently allocate Treasury funding for the full rollout of the GBVF National Strategic Plan (2025–2030).
Prioritise the immediate implementation of the National Council on GBVF signed into law in 2024.
3. Public Access to the Sex Offenders Register
Allow communities, parents, and employers to protect women and children by accessing verified information about convicted offenders.
4. Education and Awareness
Introduce GBV and consent education in all schools.
Run continuous national awareness campaigns across all media platforms.
Ending GBVF is not only a matter of policy, it is a matter of survival, of dignity, and of basic human rights.
How South Africans Can Participate on 21 November
On 21 November 2025, the country is called to action in six powerful ways:
1. Don’t Work
No paid or unpaid labour. Withdraw your presence from society.
2. Don’t Spend Money
One full day without contributing to the economy.
3. Join the 15-Minute National Standstill
Lie down at 12:00 pm for 15 minutes to honour the 15 women murdered every day.
4. Wear Black
A symbol of mourning and resistance.
5. Turn Your Profile Picture Purple
Let the shutdown fill digital spaces with visible solidarity.
6. Share Everywhere
Use #WomenShutdown.Talk about it, educate others, and refuse to let the crisis be ignored.
A Future Where Women Live Without Fear
Gender-Based Violence and Femicide is the most extreme expression of inequality, and it transcends class, culture, age, orientation, and geography. It affects every corner of society. This is a war South African women neither started nor deserve, but it is one they are forced to confront every day.
On 21 November, they will do so not through whispers, but through silence. Not through compliance, but through resistance. Not through fear, but through collective strength. This is a fight for a South Africa where women and children are safe, valued, protected, and free. A South Africa where their lives are no longer an afterthought. A South Africa where no woman is left to die silently behind closed doors.
On 21 November, South African women will silence the nation and in doing so, they will demand that the nation finally hear them.
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