Digital Solidarity and Activism Against Gender-Based Violence and Femicide in South Africa

Humanity is bearing witness to more than six active genocides and a massive epidemic of violence against women, children, young people, and LGBTQIA+ people. Statistics on sexual violence indicate the severity of this problem in South Africa, where societal pressures and structural barriers still lead to systematic underreporting. The lack of response by the government has given rise to a wave of digital solidarity with both victims and survivors. These digital activists, connected to other global digital solidarity movements broadly, are working to raise public awareness and rehumanise those who have been murdered. Amid rising fascist regimes that threaten the rights of women, children, young people and the LGBTQIA+ community worldwide, these social media activists are establishing an essential link between the legacies of colonial sexual violence and modern-day gender-based violence while highlighting the role of resistance by the most vulnerable groups.