Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Dr Sindisiwe Chikunga, has urged South Africa’s media, film, advertising, and entertainment industries to use their influence to help shift harmful cultural norms and accelerate the fight against gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF).

Speaking at the national launch of the 2025 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children campaign at Gallagher Convention Centre on November 25, Chikunga said the sector has the power ‘to flip the script’ and challenge narratives that normalise violence.

Read more: GBVF Response Fund urges young men to remember that no means no

She stressed that 16 Days should be more than an annual symbol, calling for accountability and collective action under this year’s theme: Letsema: Men, Women, Boys and Girls Working Together to End GBVF, with a sub-theme highlighting the role of arts and media in prevention.

Chikunga noted that the G20 Leaders’ Declaration adopted in Johannesburg over the weekend reaffirmed a global commitment to ending violence against women and girls. “Our task now is to implement it boldly at home,” she said.

With the South African Police Service data showing tens of thousands of sexual offences reported annually, she warned that sensationalist reporting and glamorised violent masculinity continue to reinforce harmful gender norms. “Narrative is infrastructure,” she said. “Stories shape what society sees as normal.”

The minister also launched the Five-Year Review of the National Strategic Plan on GBVF, which reports progress, including 66 Thuthuzela Care Centres, over
1 100 victim-friendly rooms, 1 200 SAPS GBVF desks, and a cleared DNA backlog with 52 000 cases prioritised. More than 40 district and municipal rapid-response teams have also been established.

Also read: GBVF Response Fund assists over 17 000 survivors in first four months

However, she warned that efforts remain insufficient for a crisis of this scale and said the president’s classification of GBVF as a national crisis must trigger ‘emergency-level action, funding, and coordination’.

Chikunga called for an industry-wide GBVF Portrayal and Editorial Code, stricter content controls, safeguards for whistle-blowers, and storylines that normalise dignity, consent, and healthy masculinity. “Only you, the storytellers of this country, can change the cultural climate in which violence becomes thinkable.”

She closed by appealing to communities, including teachers, parents, men, and boys, to model accountability and dignity. She also honoured survivors, saying government success would be measured by whether their path to justice becomes ‘shorter, kinder, and fully supported’.

The event formally marked the opening of the 2025 16 Days of Activism campaign.

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