Women shut down cities across South Africa, participating in a global movement- “The Red Flag Campaign” on Friday.
It is a brainchild of the Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance, raising awareness about sexual and intimate partner violence.
Friday was the launch prior to 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign.
South Africa’s authorities have declared gender-based violence a national state of disaster, highlighting the urgency of the plight.
About 13,453 sexual offences were recorded by the police, between January and March this year.
Of this amount, 10,688 were rape related cases, another 1,872 sexual assaults, 656 attempted sexual offences and 236 contact sexual offences.
Moreover, the Human Science and Research Council’s (HSRC) 2022 Gender-Based Violence Survey, revealed that over 33% of South African women have experienced physical violence and about 9.8% have faced sexual violence.
This equates to about 7.3 million women physically abused and 2.1 million sexually violated, this excludes violence on the LGBTQIA+ community.
Picture: University of Pretoria