It's Not Just About The Colour Purple

Hey besties!

Have you ever signed a petition and wondered if any impact could come out of it?

[TRIGGER WARNING: SEXUAL VIOLENCE]

Today is the 21st of November 2025, and just yesterday, Gender-Based Violence was declared a national disaster. Not natural, national.

Well. What does that mean?

The severity of the matter at hand is recognised as no longer manageable at municipal or provincial level and requires national government action.

If we refer to section 23 of the Disaster Management Act, what to expect is coordinated government action and legal reinforcement, plus funding for relief and rehabilitation (I am saying this with so much hope).

I read it in the Government Gazette of South Africa on Disaster Management (2003).

Come on, keep reading.

According to statistics, 15 women lose their lives to gender-based violence in South Africa... 15 women, that’s about half a classroom, that’s about an entire taxi bus, that’s about 5 nuclear families. 

The choice to highlight this during the days leading up to the G20 summit is not random; when talking about economic expansion and international development, how is the legislation in place remedying Feminicide in the country? Since last year, Feminicide has increased by 33.8%. The Women For Change Organization has been at the centre of highlighting the issue with a petition that granted GBV its status today. 

Gender-based violence is more than a singular occurrence; it’s a systemic issue that finds its root in small acts of violence labelled as “boys will be boys”. It’s in what is said, what is subtly done, and what is omitted; it accumulates until a woman loses her life at the hands of someone she trusted.

Most feminicides aren’t random plots. Just like most home break-ins are done by criminals who have studied the scene of the crime. Let me show you the wheel below to illustrate how much this is not an exaggeration: 

What I am trying to say is: it’s not just about the colour purple. It’s not just about “yet another woman” you hear about. It’s about power and control. Sexual abuse occurs regardless of what a woman is wearing, the tone in her voice, the way she carries herself… It has more to do with the abuser’s need for power and control, and yes... It is that deep.

This year, every half an hour, a child is reported sexually abused in eastern DRC (UNICEF, 2025). That means in twenty-four hours… do the math. And that doesn’t give you chills? Mind you, those are the reported cases.

Last week, according to Vatican News, a church-run hospital in the village of Byambwe, North Kivu, was set on fire after the murder of 20 patients (Seppia, 2025). Of course, I have to bring my home country into this conversation, research the statistics.

Gaza is bombed as we speak in East Jerusalem despite the ceasefire; with the civil war in Sudan, still ongoing, women endure violation, starvation, and bombing to this day. As per the OHCHR, experts reported about the condition in Sudan that behind each sexual assault is the life of a woman, a girl, whose world has been irreparably disrupted (OHCHR, 2025). As much as we want to empower survivors who can carry on with their lives after assault, we cannot negate the impact of sexual assault on the body, on the mind, and on the psyche.

Quite frankly, it saddens me. 

And this ties back to the fact that abuse done to women and girls is systemic, perpetuated by patriarchal algorithms. “Why,” you may ask. 

Sexual violence has been used as a military strategy since, I don’t know, the beginning of time? Let me check my sources… They say since Mesopotamia, Ancient Greece, and Rome (talk about a Roman Empire… gosh). 

Let’s have a little academic deep dive. When women are destabilised, entire communities and ethnic groups are destabilised as well. Because women are the primary carers in their communities (note how I didn’t say providers?). “In many nations, the collapse of the rule of law leaves them unable to deal with allegations of rape, while in others women feel too exposed to stigma to accuse their attackers.” (Smith-Park, 2004). By taking a stand against these crimes, we take the shame away from the survivors and place it where it belongs, on the culprits.

In 1999, the South African Law Commission stated the importance of redefining the definition of Sexual Abuse to incorporate coercive circumstances and not just the absence of consent. These circumstances are favoured by the exercise of power over another person, be it of a psychological, social, economic, or organizational nature. What looked like a progressive reform unfortunately never took place. This, in simple terms, shows us that twisting a no into a maybe is called coercion.

And that is why today is so important. Thanks to Non-Profit Organizations like Women for Change and their initiative to get signatures on a petition against Gender Based Violence, today we have gathered 1,112,322 signatures, and yesterday, Gender Based Violence was declared a National Disaster; with the Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa welcoming the decision to classify it as such (South African Government, 2025). 

A step in the right direction, but there is so much more we can do on a smaller scale, too. Did you know that calling out misogynistic behaviour was not just the decent thing to do but also an act of solidarity to women? 

There’s no need to shame anyone who has shied away from taking even the smallest action towards progress, but misogyny is perpetuated by my silence, your silence, our silence. The spectrum on the left and the model below show its impact. 

March, protest, and if you can't, raise awareness. And if you're not ready yet (for your personal reasons), that's okay. I hope one day you will be. In the meantime, those who are brave enough to do it are with you and hope you know that you are not alone.

That’s exactly what The Color Purple did on social media this month. With this little article, I would be on the second step of prevention: promoting community education. I have cited all my sources; feel free to read them. You don’t need to be a survivor of sexual abuse or know a survivor to speak about it. It starts at home. It starts with your personal beliefs and those who support them.

So, yes. Beyond that, what you and I can do is donate to NGOs and NPOs with a proven record of assistance to survivors of sexual violence (notice how I said proven?). We can volunteer, for crying out loud. It's hopeful to see men marching and taking a stand against gender-based violence (wow, a fish swimming, I know), but yes, hopeful regardless.

That’s it, besties. Thank you for reading and making it this far. As you can see, it’s not just about the colour purple, it’s about systemic oppression. I really invite you to read and understand how deeply rooted in society gender-based violence is. Everything below is eye-opening. I didn't just pull it out of my bum.

If you label yourself a feminist, and just like me a few years ago, you didn't know how to answer the question, "Well, who are women claiming their power back from? Who took it away from them?"

The answer is simple: on an evolutionary level, because of hormones like oestrogen and testosterone, men and women have always had different builds. Men possessing a physiological advantage, more muscle mass, and no prospect of being more vulnerable to threats by carrying children (I'm not teaching anything here, am I?). So which of the two requires more protection?

As this post has shown, destabilising women allows governments and systems to destabilise civilizations.

Women claiming their power back means finding space to not just exist and thrive within rights (human rights), which were formally given to them like... what? In 1791 and that was not even all women. If we look specifically at black women in South Africa, we are looking at something like... 1994.

If you had to take a wild guess, who do you think signed the Declaration of Women's Rights? Exactly...

Thanks for reading, besties. Don't hesitate to reach out, I write back ;)

References

(2003) Government Gazette Republic of South Africa Vol. 451 cape town 15 January 2003. Available at: https://www.cogta.gov.za/cgta_2016/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/DISASTER-MANAGEMENT-ACT.pdf (Accessed: 21 November 2025).

Germanos, L.-A. (2023) Sexual assault - part 3: Sexual violence as a weapon of war, Helen Suzman Foundation. Available at: https://hsf.org.za/publications/hsf-briefs/sexual-assault-iii-sexual-violence-as-a-weapon-of-war (Accessed: 21 November 2025).

Interactive relationship spectrum (2024) BWSS. Available at: https://www.bwss.org/interactive-relationship-spectrum/ (Accessed: 21 November 2025).

Miller, E.R. and B. (2025) The role of power and control in domestic violence, RESPOND Inc. Available at: https://www.respondinc.org/blog/the-role-of-power-and-control-in-domestic-violence/ (Accessed: 21 November 2025).

Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa welcomes decision to classify gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) as a national disaster (2025) Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa welcomes decision to classify Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) as a national disaster | South African Government. Available at: https://www.gov.za/news/media-statements/minister-velenkosini-hlabisa-welcomes-decision-classify-gender-based-violence (Accessed: 21 November 2025).

Ngcobo, K. (2025) South African women call purple protest at G20 over gender violence, BBC News. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn979g302l9o (Accessed: 21 November 2025).

Preez, J. du (2024) One raped every 12 minutes; South Africans abandoned in war against crime - action society, Action Society. Available at: https://actionsociety.co.za/one-raped-every-12-minutes-south-africans-abandoned-in-war-against-crime-action-society/ (Accessed: 21 November 2025).

Prevention of domestic abuse (2024) Haven Horizons. Available at: https://havenhorizons.com/models-of-prevention/ (Accessed: 21 November 2025).

Smith-Spark, L. (2004) In depth | how did rape become a weapon of war?, BBC News. Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4078677.stm (Accessed: 21 November 2025).

Sudan: Experts denounce systematic attacks on women and girls | ohchr (2025) Office of the . Available at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/05/sudan-experts-denounce-systematic-attacks-women-and-girls (Accessed: 21 November 2025).