Femicide

August marks Women's Month, two years after the Total Shutdown movement which highlighted the plight of women and children.The march led to the first ever gender-based violence summit being held.But have we made progress as the death of women and children at the hands of men continues in our society?In August 2018, there was a…

The first year theology student dreamt of becoming a preacher. (Facebook, Jesse Hess) The lifeless bodies of Jesse Hess and her grandfather Chris Lategan were found in their Parow home on 30 August 2019.Hess, 19, was an aspiring pastor and a first-year University of the Western Cape theology student.Relations within her family have strained following the…

Meghan Cremer was found dead on 8 August 2019.Her mother, Gill, says her life has changed completely.A crowdfunding campaign has been launched by her friend Lize Hartley, in her honour to encourage female empowerment, leadership and self-defence skills.Meghan Cremer, 29, was a horse rider and bakery manager in Cape Town.It's been a year since she…

The interim director of the South African Medical Research Council's (SAMRC) Gender Health Research Unit, Naeemah Abrahams, believes that despite cases of gender-based violence making headlines every single year, the situation is improving. Responding to the murder of Tshegofatso Pule, which sparked widespread social media outrage, Abrahams said changing men’s behaviour would be the only way…