At the Union Buildings lawns in Pretoria, the seat of government, thousands of protesters dressed in black with touches of purple began gathering in the morning of 21 November. Their voices rose in traditional songs of struggle - "Senzeni na?" (What have we done to deserve this?) and "Zizaw'ujik'izinto" (Things will change) - before culminating in a powerful moment at midday, when protesters lay on the ground in silence, honouring the memory of women that are killed every day in South Africa, according to data cited by the national nonprofit organization, Women for Change.
G20 Women's Shutdown: Over one million signatures push government to act on gender-based violence and femicide
The timing was deliberate. As world leaders converged in Johannesburg for the G20 Summit, led by Women for Change, protesters seized the global spotlight to demand urgent action on a crisis that claims women's and girls' lives with devastating regularity. The protest, dubbed 'the G20 Women's Shutdown', called for women to stay home from work, refrain from spending money, observe 15 minutes of silence to honour the memory of victims of femicide, and make their demands impossible to ignore. The movement's purple-themed social media campaign echoed far beyond South Africa's borders, with supporters worldwide changing their profile pictures in solidarity.
"I came here not only because I've got people that I know who have been victims of femicide and gender-based violence, but because this is a crisis. We see women dying every day and we need our voices to be heard", said 28-year-old Lebogang Ntsia, standing among thousands at the Union Buildings. "Just as women many years ago protested here (against apartheid laws) and showed up for the changes that we are privileged to experience today, we also need to be the generation that steps up."
The statistics paint a grim picture. The First South African National Gender-based Violence Study, released in 2024 and co-supported by UN Women, revealed that more than 1 in 3 women - 35.8 per cent of South African women - have experienced physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime. The protest's impact rippled nationwide as educational institutions observed the 15-minute silence, some major retailers paused operations, and the coordinated action caught global headlines.
The Government of South Africa declares gender-based violence a national disaster
Responding to the outcry amplified by over one million petition signatures, the Government has declared gender-based violence and femicide a national disaster - a move that will unlock additional resources and policy focus, ensuring the issue receives urgent attention it demands.
Speaking at the G20 Social Summit, President Cyril Ramaphosa said, "We have agreed, among all social partners, that we need to take extraordinary and concerted action - using every means at our disposal - to end this crisis". Ramaphosa also emphasized that men and boys must actively challenge the attitudes and structures that normalize violence against women and girls.
UN Women Representative in South Africa Aleta Miller highlighted the human cost of the crisis: "They are mothers, daughters, sisters, friends - whose lives have been cut short or forever changed. Ending gender-based violence and femicide requires nothing less than a comprehensive, all-of-society approach."
Global South presidencies drive new momentum for gender equality at the G20
The protest occurred as three consecutive G20 presidencies from the Global South - India (2023), Brazil (2024), and South Africa (2025) - have brought fresh momentum to the forum's gender equality agenda, each building on the other's work to advance women's economic empowerment and safety.
India's 2023 presidency marked a watershed moment by reframing the narrative from 'women's empowerment' to 'women-led development,' creating the Women's Empowerment Working Group and elevating gender equality from engagement groups to formal G20 architecture. Brazil's 2024 presidency moved this vision into action by hosting the first-ever meeting of the Working Group and positioning the care economy at the heart of its agenda.
South Africa's 2025 presidency, themed 'Solidarity, Equality, and Sustainability', arrived at a critical moment: five years before the 2030 deadline to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action that put women's equal rights and opportunities at the heart of meaningful progress for the planet and people. The presidency secured unprecedented African Union participation and expanded the agenda to include health equity, land rights, and agriculture, alongside existing priorities. The Women's Empowerment Working Group, supported by UN Women, also focused on ending gender-based violence and femicide.
Yet significant gaps persist: most G20 countries remain far from achieving the 25 per cent reduction in labour force participation gaps between men and women; climate finance continues to bypass women, with only 1.7 per cent reaching small-scale producers in developing countries. And, no country in the world has eradicated violence against women and girls.
Leaders at G20 call for the engagement of men and boys in ending gender-based violence
As G20 Ministers gathered in Johannesburg, they recognized that addressing gender-based violence requires confronting its root causes.
The G20 Ministerial Dialogue on Positive Masculinities, held in October, brought together religious and traditional leaders, government officials, and civil society to discuss ways to address harmful social norms that fuel violence against women and girls. Deputy Minister Mmapaseka Steve Letsike told the assembly that "patriarchy is a human crisis, not merely a women's issue."
"Across countries, physical spaces or online contexts, the dominance of patriarchal masculinities is a common thread underlying the perpetration of gender-based violence," said Anna Mutavati, UN Women Regional Director for East and Southern Africa at the G20 Ministerial Meeting. "Achieving gender equality requires the full engagement of all segments of society, including men and boys as strategic partners and advocates for change."
Central to the G20's recommendations was engaging men and boys as active agents of change in promoting positive masculinities. Ministers also emphasized that transforming harmful gender norms requires strengthening accountability mechanisms across all sectors, from religious institutions to judicial systems.
From commitments to action: A new generation demands extraordinary action during 16 Days of Activism
Since the 2018 Total Shutdown march, when women marched to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange demanding change, South Africa has developed comprehensive frameworks to address the crisis. The government launched the National Strategic Plan on Gender-based Violence and Femicide, dedicating approximately R21 billion (about USD 1.2 billion). New legislation includes the National Council on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide Bill, signed into law in May 2024.
As South Africa enters the 16 Days of Activism, the 21 November protests have set a powerful precedent, demonstrating that a new generation refuses to accept violence against women as inevitable, demanding that extraordinary measures match the extraordinary scale of the crisis.
