Purple Banners: A Call to End Gender-Based Violence

I remember back in the days when I was growing up when the world felt safe and people genuinely cared for one another. A time when children played outside until 7 p.m. and still made it home safely. A world where fathers stood as protectors, shielding their daughters from harm. Oh, how those bright days have turned into darkness. The same streets once filled with laughter, chalk drawings, and bouncing balls are now stained red with blood.

I sit and watch the news these days, and my body aches while my heart races with fear. I read about the cruelty happening all around the world, and I can’t help but look at my children and grieve the innocence they’ll never fully know the beauty of a world that once was.

We live in a time where respect for both women and children has nearly vanished. Men, once seen as protectors, have become some of the greatest predators, preying even on the smallest and most vulnerable. How does someone look at a baby, pure and defenceless and see it as acceptable to harm them?

When did it start equating love rejection to killing? When did it start being okay to call women who are being abused and killed “drunkards” and “money eaters”? When did it become normal to solve arguments with murder? The streets are red, and the cries are loud, yet silence still wins. When did love become possession, and when did power replace protection? We are raising generations that mistake control for care and anger for masculinity. 

As the dead cry, we stand in unwavering solidarity with all the women and children who have been murdered, abused, and bullied  whose voices have been silenced by a society that often protects predators. We will march the streets and flood our social platforms with a single, united voice  a voice demanding an end to gender-based violence. Though some may hear it as a whisper, it carries the power of a roar. In South Africa, where gender-based violence continues to claim lives and tear families apart, we raise our purple banners high  a symbol of courage, resistance, and hope. Together, we shine a light in the darkness, declaring that enough is enough, and affirming that every woman and child deserves safety, dignity, and life.