KZN protesters call on govt to pass strict laws against GBVF

Young women in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) who have joined nationwide demonstrations against gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) are calling on the government to pass strict laws to curb the scourge.

With KZN identified as one of the provinces with the most reported cases, hundreds of activists filled Durban streets to add their voices to the cause.

Since December last year, KwaZulu-Natal has recorded a concerning number of GBVF cases.

READ: GBV Shutdown: Constitution Hill demonstrators demand concrete action, not just commemoration

The most recent case was a 36-year-old woman who was beheaded and her body burnt. In most of these cases, the alleged perpetrators are men and are known to the victims.

Young women took to the streets to voice their fears and frustrations.

One of them is Cleo Morrison, who is dressed in all black and carrying a placard which reads, "Enough is Enough"

"I don’t feel safe at all. I always feel like even if I’m going on a walk or taking a jog, I need to have a companion with me because I don’t feel safe, and it is not good living in an area where you don’t feel safe that a man might come and harm you. We should be free; we shouldn’t feel that as women."

Meanwhile, Trezan Taylor said if the government really cared about the safety of women, Friday’s shutdown would not have taken place.

"We are doing work that we shouldn’t be doing. I mean, it’s been going on for too long. Why has it come this far if we had the support that we were supposed to have?"

In parts of the Durban CBD, a number of people were seen wearing black and purple, standing in solidarity with calls to address the crisis.