JOHANNESBURG - Gender‑Based Violence and Femicide (GBVH) continues to affect every part of society, and tackling it is everyone's responsibility.
This is the view of GBVF Response Fund Board Chair Faith Khanyile, whose comments come at the back of nine bodies of women being discovered in Ekurhuleni.
According to Khanyile, government, business, civil society, schools and workplaces must work together to address the problem.
“We need a coordinated, collaborative approach across business, across government, and civil society. Schools, workplaces, to really tackle this problem. We don't see ourselves as the only party that can solve it, because it just cannot happen. We are only just a tiny player, to be honest, in this ecosystem of gender-based violence,”
Khanyile added to this saying poverty and women’s economic dependence can make it harder for victims to leave abusive relationships.
Research by Dipela Mmaphuti Percy of 2025 looking into the impact of women's unemployment and income disparities on Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) speaks on this matter.
The study revealed that when women feel that they financially depend on their abuser, it is even harder to leave.
This gives their abuser leverage to continue to abuse them, knowing they have limited options
"Previous research has shown that economic insecurity increases vulnerability to IPV as abusers can more easily use economic abuse, "the research said.
As such, Khanyile stressed the need for economic empowerment of women in this country to be ‘stepped up’.
“If a woman is dependent on a man for their economic survival, they are going to stay in abusive relationships. So, I think we really need to just appreciate that gender-based violence does not happen in a vacuum. It happens in a society where women continue to experience higher levels of unemployment, for example, compared to men.”