GBV: Join the National Shutdown and Let Power Feel the Absence

GOOD Statement by Kaden Arguile, GOOD National Youth Organiser:

Every morning, women wake up and choose to keep going, to keep moving through what was done to them. And every morning, this country confronts them with a reminder of just how unsafe they are. Reading the news should come with a trigger warning. Every 2.5 hours, another woman is buried.

South Africa is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a woman. And still, survivors are expected to relive their trauma in court just to be believed. Our justice system keeps asking not, “Did the accused commit the act?” but “Did the victim prove they didn’t consent?”

The burden falls, again and again, on women. Women must survive. Women must do the reporting. Women must do the proving. Women must do the work.

And now, with world leaders arriving for a two-day G20 summit on “economic sustainability,” we must say what should be obvious: there is no sustainable economy without women.

If women’s lives don’t matter, then neither should the flow of capital. This is an economic shutdown, because the only language power seems to understand is money.

Violence has seeped into the marrow of everyday life in South Africa, but for women and children, it has spiralled into a national emergency. GOOD has said “enough” before, and our “Don’t Shut Up Speak Up” campaign has been running since 2022, and we are saying it again.

From supporting Women For Change in trying to prevent GBV perpetrator Chris Brown from entering the country, to joining the organisation outside the Union Buildings, we have stood alongside survivors and activists. And again, we stand with them as we call for a National Shutdown on Friday, 21 November.

A 33.8% increase in the murders of South African women in just one year is not a statistic; it is a massacre. We refuse to sit still while it continues. On Friday, every GOOD member is called to withhold all paid and unpaid labour.

Let the country feel, viscerally, what happens when women disappear. Let those in power feel the void they have ignored for too long.

The shutdown is the next escalation in our collective fight for justice. Peaceful protest, and after peaceful protest, it is time for a louder tactic. We continue to demand a mechanism proven effective during COVID-19 and the KZN floods, because a rapid response saves lives. That is all activists have been asking for.

On Friday, we are asking you to stand with us.

Set aside gender, age, ideology, and every old excuse.

Join the millions of South Africans who refuse to let this crisis fade into silence.

GOOD Manifesto on Healthcare Access: Advocating for improved access to quality healthcare for all citizens.

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