From Purple Profiles to National Shutdown: The Fight Against Gender-Based Violence

Earlier today, on November 21, 2025, women across South Africa stepped away from the economy for 15 minutes, lying down at noon to honour the 15 women whose lives are taken every day. What began as a simple purple profile picture online grew into an international movement, inspiring solidarity across the region and beyond. The actual shutdown took place in South Africa, in multiple cities including Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Durban. The images were immediate and raw — a nation forced to confront the weight of lives stolen.

At Kudvumisa Foundation, more than ten years beside communities has taught us that violence does not emerge out of nowhere. It grows in the shadows of poverty, in homes where economic dependence closes every door of escape, in families carrying untreated stress and trauma, and in places where support is too far away to reach in time.

When we highlight these linkages, it is never to excuse violence, nothing can justify it. Rather, it is to ask the deeper question: are we seeing and addressing the real, systemic conditions that allow violence to take root? 

Because without confronting those foundations, we only respond to the symptoms, not the source.

The solidarity inspired by Women For Change has been powerful. But the story beneath the surface is what truly matters: the invisible pressures shaping a woman’s choices long before crisis strikes.

The shutdown happened today, but the challenge now is whether we will turn this moment — sparked by a single purple profile — into lasting change for victims of violence across the region.

How can YOU Take action?

• Amplify the message: Share this article to keep the conversation alive.

• Support practical solutions: Invest in programs that provide health, education, and economic freedom to break cycles of vulnerability.

  
  

Together, let’s turn the purple into real protection, opportunity, and hope. 💜