From commitments to concrete action: Ending femicide in South Africa
Posted: 20 July, 2026 Filed under: Derara Roba, Keziah Mwashigadi, Noah Yesuf, Rumbidzai Musonza | Tags: accountability, femicide, gender-based violence, human dignity, intimate partner violence, live free from violence, National Council on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide Act 9 of 2024, national disaster, National Strategy on the Prevention of Femicide, South Africa, woman's rights, women’s dignity Leave a commentThe Authors are enrolled in the LL.M in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa (HRDA) at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria.
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Noah Yesuf |
Rumbidzai Musonza |
Derara Roba |
Keziah Mwashigadi |
Femicide in South Africa: The staggering realities
Femicide represents the most extreme manifestation of gender-based violence against women and girls. The numbers are frightening as reports have repeatedly shown that South Africa has one of the highest femicide rates in the world. Recent records indicate that the rate of intimate partner violence in South Africa is five times higher than the global average, and approximately 15 women are killed every day.
Yet, the response remains sluggish, unable to effectively tackle the pervasive ongoing femicide crisis that poses a daily threat to women’s lives and deprive their constitutional right to live free from violence with dignity, equality, and freedom.




