JOHANNESBURG - Women for Change, a women's rights organisation fighting against gender-based violence and femicide, is calling on women across South Africa to stay away from work for a day in protest.
The planned action, dubbed the G20 Women's Shutdown, is scheduled for 21 November, a day before the two-day G20 Summit.
The organisation says the aim is to draw attention to the ongoing crisis of rape and murder of women in South Africa.
In a statement shared on social media, the organisation said, "We call on all women and members of the LGBTQI+ community across South Africa to refrain from all paid and unpaid work in workplaces, universities, homes, and communities to demonstrate the economic and social impact of their absence. Because until South Africa stops burying a woman every 2.5 hours, the G20 cannot speak of growth and progress."
Women for Change has also urged participants not to spend any money or contribute economically for the day, and to wear black in solidarity with victims of gender-based violence
Additionally, at 12pm, women are encouraged to join a 15-minute standstill by lying down to honour the 15 women murdered every day in South Africa.
Online, the movement has taken on a visual identity. South Africans have been changing their social media profile pictures to purple, also under the #WomenForChange campaign.
The action has since gained massive traction, turning timelines purple and amplifying public outrage over rising violence against women and girls.
Meanwhile, Woman For Change founder Sabrina Walter has slammed government's slow pace in declaring Gender-Based Violence and Femicide a national disaster.