A group of women took to the streets on October 1 dressed in purple and united by a single message: women experiencing gender-based violence (GBV) should never feel alone.

The community walk, organised by My Ascent, saw about 10 women walk roughly 2km from Steyn City towards Broadacres and back. Wearing purple in solidarity with GBV victims and survivors, the women used the walk to raise awareness and encourage communities to speak out against violence.

Read more: Purple Voices campaign appeals for support to fund community GBV dialogues

My Ascent founder and chief adventure officer Fazlin Swanepoel said the initiative was about showing women that they have a support network around them.

“We will not stand for this, and every woman out there experiencing this should never feel alone,” said Swanepoel. She added that millions of people support GBV survivors.

She said the walk was also an opportunity to introduce My Ascent, a newly established, 100% female-owned business focused on youth development, mental well-being, resilience, leadership and life skills. Swanepoel said the organisation has developed a five-day programme aimed at young people between the ages of 15 and 23.

The programme includes mental resilience, communication, leadership, laughter therapy, identifying and managing stress, as well as financial literacy. “We want to ready the youth for the real world,” she said.

Swanepoel said her work with young people was also informed by the loss of her 27-year-old son to suicide last year. She said My Ascent aims to use adventure and mountain experiences to help young people develop resilience, while also raising funds for digital libraries in underserved communities.

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Another participant, Julie Saffari, said she joined the walk because GBV was an issue that communities could no longer remain silent about.

“It was something that we could do in our small way to raise awareness that GBV is not cool,” Saffari said. She said the message needed to reach everyone, so that they understood that violence was not acceptable. “We cannot be silent about an issue that is this important. The more people who speak out and get the message out, the better we will be able to deal with this,” she said.

Saffari said the walk was deliberately kept small because larger gatherings require the necessary permission from the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD).

The women were supported by the Fourways Improvement District, which provided a patrol vehicle that followed the group to assist with their safety.

Swanepoel expressed her appreciation for the support, saying the partnership demonstrated the importance of communities coming together around issues affecting their safety and well-being.

The group’s message remained clear throughout the walk: stand together, speak out and ensure that victims and survivors of GBV know they are not alone.

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