Thousands of South Africans have turned their social-media profiles purple this week in solidarity with the campaign launched by the non-profit Women for Change, which is calling for a one-day national shutdown ahead of the country hosting the G20 Summit, Cape town Etc reports.
The shutdown, set for next Friday, demands an end to gender-based violence and femicide in South Africa. Women for Change has urged women and LGBTQI community members across the nation to stop all paid and unpaid work in homes, workplaces and educational institutions, as well as to refrain from spending any money that day, a symbolic action to demonstrate the economic and social impact of their absence.
At 12pm on the shutdown day, participants are asked to lie down for a silent 15-minutes, wearing black to express mourning and resistance. The act symbolises the roughly 15 women murdered each day in South Africa, according to the organisation.