Johannesburg - The South African government will this week hold a presidential summit on gender-based violence and femicide in a bid to determine a road map to end the scourge.
During the National Women's Day commemoration in August, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that a national summit on gender-based violence (GBV) and femicide would be held between government and civil society on 1 and 2 November in Centurion.
Around 2 000 women under the #TotalShutDown banner marched to the Union Buildings on August 1 and handed Ramaphosa a memorandum to protest against oppression, gender inequality and gender-based violence.
Violence against women, especially by their intimate partners, is a serious problem in South Africa, and horrific stories have been highlighted in the media since #MenAreTrash went viral.
According to the Stats SA's Crime against Women in South Africa report released in June, the murder rate for women increased drastically by 117 percent in less than 24 months between 2015 and 17.
The report also highlighted that the number of women who were the victims of sexual offences jumped from 31,665 in 2015/16 to 70,813 in 2016/17, which is an increase of 53 percent. The report also indicated that in 2016/17, people refrained from ordinary daily activities due to fear of crime.