WOMEN For Change (WFC), one of South Africa’s leading organisations combating gender-based violence, has announced a nationwide shutdown for Friday, November 21, the day before global leaders arrive for the G20 Summit in Johannesburg.

Under the banner G20 Women’s Shutdown, women and members of the LGBTQI+ community across the country are being called to halt all paid and unpaid work — in offices, homes, universities, and communities — to demonstrate the immense social and economic impact of their absence. The demand is to declare South Africa’s Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) crisis a National Disaster.

A growing national outcry

The action follows WFC’s April 2025 petition calling for the National Disaster declaration — a petition that has since grown to more than 200 000 signatures, reflecting a country exhausted by continuous violence and government inaction.

“Every 2.5 hours, a woman is killed in South Africa. Our silence has been met with inaction. Now, our silence will be our protest,” said Sabrina Walter, founder and executive director of WFC.

“You cannot speak of economies while women live in fear.”

Caxton Local Media Durban backs the shutdown

Caxton Local Media Durban has officially declared its full support for the G20 Women’s Shutdown.

“In line with the national action, our staff will be joining the 15-minute ‘Down Tools’ movement on 21 November, standing in solidarity with women in communities across the country,” said the company’s business manager, Nicole Bérichon.

“As a media house, we don’t only report on GBV — we actively support the fight against it,” she added.

Other media houses, local businesses, corporates, and organisations are encouraged to follow suit.

Women For Change is urging institutions across South Africa to stand in solidarity. Here’s how you can participate:

• On November 21 don’t work. No paid or unpaid labour.
• Don’t spend money and withdraw from the economy for one day.
• On November 21, join the 15-Minute standstill by lying down for 15 minutes at 12:00 to honour the 15 women murdered every day and bring South Africa to a complete standstill.
• Wear black to stand in mourning and resistance.
• Change your profile picture to purple to make the shutdown visible online. Click here to download the purple background.
• Share. Share. Share. Make the Shutdown impossible to ignore. Talk about it, share our posters using #WomenShutdown

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