By Gillian Schutte
Every year, South Africa focuses on gender-based violence (GBV) and violence against women (VAW) during the 16 Days of Activism campaign.
While its glossy messaging, hashtags, and corporate-sponsored events might signal awareness, they often feel disconnected from the lived realities of millions of women. These symbolic gestures fail to translate into systemic change, leaving many grappling with the same challenges long after the campaign ends.
GBV affects women across all social classes, but its impact is most acute for those in marginalised communities. Middle- and upper-class women face domestic violence, workplace harassment, and societal stigma, while women living in poverty endure compounded challenges of unsafe environments, economic dependency, and systemic neglect. The universality of GBV is clear, but the inequalities in addressing it reveal the deeper failures of a fractured system.
According to the South African Police Service (SAPS), 9,309 rape cases were reported in the first quarter of the 2024/2025 financial year (April to June 2024), reflecting a slight 0.6% increase from the previous year’s 9,252 cases (SAPS Quarterly Crime Statistics, 2024). On 25 November 2024, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu announced a 2.5% decline in reported sexual offences for the second quarter of the same financial year.
However, these figures continue to highlight how deeply entrenched gender-based violence remains within South Africa’s socio-economic fabric, disproportionately affecting women who face the greatest structural disadvantages.
In these environments, poor infrastructure adds another layer of vulnerability. Crumbling transport systems, inadequate housing, and a lack of access to clean water and sanitation leave women exposed to both physical and systemic violence. Poverty and exclusion combine to create conditions where interpersonal abuse is almost inevitable.
Zinhle, a 34-year-old mother from Marikana, endured years of abuse before summoning the courage to report her partner to the police. A week after filing the report, she was brutally beaten to death by the very man she had tried to escape. Zinhle’s story lays bare the failures of a system that cannot protect women, even when they take steps to seek help.
Thandiwe, a 27-year-old mother from Alexandra, faces a different but equally harrowing dilemma. “I don’t have a job or family to take me in. If I leave him, where will I go? I’ll end up on the streets with my kids.” For Thandiwe, as for so many women, economic survival is tied to staying in abusive situations, leaving her with no realistic way out.
Women in wealthier communities avoid some of the physical dangers associated with poverty but face institutional indifference and cultural pressures that discourage reporting abuse. Across all demographics, systems fail to prioritise women’s safety and dignity, creating a culture in which violence thrives.
Rosemary, a professional from Johannesburg, kept her abuse hidden for years. “I didn’t want my colleagues to know. I thought they’d see me as weak,” she shared. “When he raped and beat me, I covered up and went to work until I couldn’t take it anymore.” Her story reveals how silence and isolation cut across economic lines.
For Fazila, a 22-year-old university student, danger came in an unexpected moment of trust. At a party in Braamfontein, she accepted a drink from a male acquaintance, thinking nothing of it. Shortly after, she felt dizzy and disoriented. Hours later, she woke up in an unfamiliar room, bruised and violated.
Reporting the incident to the police only deepened her trauma, as officers implied she had been “careless” for not watching her drink more closely. Fazila was able to make use of the Gender Desk at Wits where she received psychological support, but says it will take a long time to recover from the trauma. Her experience reveals how GBV transcends socioeconomic status, highlighting the systemic failures even women in privileged positions encounter when seeking justice.
For those on the margins of the economy, support is scant. South Africa’s neoliberal economic policies have exacerbated these challenges by dismantling critical social services. Shelters are underfunded, legal aid is out of reach for many, and counselling services are scarce, especially in rural areas. Survivors are most often left to face trauma alone or return to unsafe environments, perpetuating cycles of violence.
The Government of National Unity (GNU) threatens to deepen this crisis further. Austerity measures designed to reduce public spending will disproportionately harm marginalised communities, cutting essential resources and leaving women with even fewer options for safety and support. Neoliberalism’s effects also reach into middle- and upper-class spaces, where societal pressures and professional risks frequently silence survivors. Across all classes, women face a system that prioritises profit over people.
The 16 Days of Activism campaign highlights this disconnect. While raising awareness is important, its focus on symbolic gestures such as marches, hashtags, and events fails to address the underlying conditions that make women vulnerable in the first place.
In under-resourced areas, the gap between rhetoric and reality is particularly blunt. Police stations are poorly equipped, and officers often lack the training to handle GBV cases sensitively. Survivors who attempt to report crimes usually face secondary victimisation, deterring others from seeking help. Even in wealthier communities, the justice system offers little more than appearances of accountability, rarely delivering meaningful reform. High-profile cases might attract attention, but they seldom lead to lasting change.
Ending GBV requires structural reforms that address the conditions enabling it. Economic interventions such as universal basic income, subsidised housing, and affordable childcare could empower women to leave abusive situations without fear of financial collapse.
Increased investment in shelters, counselling centres, and legal aid would ensure survivors have tangible support, preventing them from being forced back into unsafe environments. Job creation initiatives, particularly in rural and marginalised areas, would reduce financial dependency and give women greater autonomy.
Symbolic gestures cannot solve South Africa’s GBV crisis. While campaigns like 16 Days of Activism bring visibility to the issue, they fail to address the systemic inequalities sustaining violence. Real change requires bold reforms that prioritise women’s safety and dignity every day of the year.
Economic policies must tackle the root causes of GBV, while education and cultural shifts dismantle the medians that normalise abuse. Without these changes, the cycles of violence will continue, leaving women across all classes unprotected and unsupported. South African women deserve more than empty promises and symbolic actions. They deserve meaningful change.
Gillian Schutte is a film-maker, social justice and race-justice activist.
** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.