South Africa has declared femicide and sex based violence against women as a national disaster. This change was made possible through social media activism, as South African women started a movement on social media platforms to show solidarity and spread awareness by changing their profiles to purple.
Along with the change in profiles, women were encouraged to “withdraw from the economy for one day,” as well as lying down for 15 minutes to honor victims of femicide. The 15 minutes is a reference to how 15 women are murdered in South Africa every day.
Before this major campaign, South Africa did not acknowledge sex based violence against women as a national issue. Their government had taken the stance of not wanting to categorize it.
Munnira-Afrikana Katongole, activist and leader of UNITED! Movement in Africa said that Africa fails to grasp the magnitude and calamity of the issue. “Men largely govern the affairs of this country and cannot understand the gendered challenges women face,” she said.
South Africa has the highest rates of violence against women. National surveys, along with advocacy groups within South Africa, report that violence towards women is disproportionately high. WFC notes that “The rate of femicide in South Africa is 6x higher than the global average, with at least 15 women being murdered every day.”
Women all over the globe began changing their profile pictures to purple to show their solidarity with South African women. This started with the group Women and Change, a non-profit based in South Africa, to call for real action against sex based violence. According to Women for Change, the choice of purple specifically represents global support.
In the past, many news outlets haven’t been giving South Africa much attention, and this also goes for other major social issues nationally. “My first instinct would be to go to racism. However, I also think it has a lot to do with how our news is polluted with junk.” Mrs. Salvadore said in regard to why this happens.
Another perspective given was how younger generations may experience fatigue around these issues. Mrs. Salvadore continued, “I also think it has to do with how there’s just so much going on. We’re continuously being exposed to so much important content that we don’t know where to start. Sometimes, we shut down from it.”
With the success of this campaign to raise awareness and consciousness, it has also raised the question of is social media acts like this can be effective in general. “There’s always going to be the issue of performative activism. It’s hard to tell if someone’s doing something genuinely or because they think it’s a trend,” a student said in response to the question of whether social media campaigns are always effective.
“Online, people can get more access to information they otherwise would not have. I do think that campaigns like this can work.” Another student told me in response to my question on social media activism.
Despite the numerous perspectives of social media activism, this has brought women from across the globe together. Women reported feeling as if they had experienced true solidarity with other women, all while spreading awareness on this subject of femicide.