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Hundreds of women dressed in black gathered johannesburg The group will hold a 15-minute lying-down protest in South Africa on Friday, a day before the start of the Group 20 summit, to symbolize the 15 lives lost every day to gender-based violence.
South Africa led a progressive agenda on gender issues during its presidency of the G20, but its rate of femicide is five times higher than the global average, and it has grappled with the problem for decades, according to UN Women.
“This protest was a minute of silence for every woman who might have fallen within the day,” protest coordinator Courtney Gelderblom, 19, told the Associated Press. “So, every minute we remain in silence is to mourn and honor those we have lost.”
ordinary south africanCelebrities and activists took part in non-violent actions in several cities a day before the first meeting of the G20 world leaders. African Continent.
the protesters It also included survivors of gender violence, some of whom began crying while lying down. Others held signs that read, “Why do you hate us?” and “My body is not your crime scene.”
Organized by the non-profit group Women for Change, the protest was the culmination of a month of lobbying and pressure by the group asking the South African government to take action.
A protest petition received over one million signatures.
In response, the government on Friday declared gender-based violence a national emergency, a move that orders authorities to take action and dedicate resources to combat it.
“The women of our country are screaming that they need to pay more attention to this issue,” the South African president said. Cyril Ramaphosa She spoke at the G20 summit for civil society this week, where she described gender-based violence as a national crisis.
Gender violence expert Professor Corne Davis-Buitendag said it was relevant to hold the protest a day before the start of the G20 meeting because gender-based violence affects global development, with studies showing that it exacts a heavy toll on economies.
“The strategic part of this is to try and put it on the agenda that as relevant as other issues are, gender-based violence is one of the biggest issues because of its impact on society at large,” Davis-Buitendag said. “For example, we are seeing a surge in child sex trafficking, which has become one of the largest industries in the world.”
She said that although South Africa has a legal framework in place and has made changes to its law to make it easier for victims to testify, “the numbers are not going down.”
The Women for Change petition urges South Africa’s state prosecution body to reject bail in significant gender-based violence cases, impose life sentences for perpetrators, and hold law enforcement and justice officials accountable for negligence and misconduct in cases.
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Follow AP’s coverage of the G20 summit in South Africa: https://apnews.com/hub/g20-summit