People take part in a protest against gender violence in Johannesburg, South Africa, Sept. 13, 2019. Thousands of people hit the main streets in Sandton, Johannesburg to protest gender violence on Friday. Civil society groups assembled from 3 a.m outside the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) where they staged Femicide scene. The mock crime scene represented what women have to go through because of gender-based violence. (Xinhua/Chen Cheng)
JOHANNESBURG, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of people hit the main streets in Sandton, Johannesburg to protest gender violence on Friday.
Civil society groups assembled from 3 a.m outside the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) where they staged Femicide scene. The mock crime scene represented what women have to go through because of gender-based violence.
Protesters said women should feel safe no matter at work, at home or at school. They demand the government to implement policies to protect women and a 2 percent levy on JSE listed companies to help in the fight against gender violence
Some men joined the march to show their support.
Cases of gender-based violence, rape, murder and crimes against women have grabbed headlines across South Africa in recent weeks.
Statistics released on Thursday by South Africa Police Service showed that there were 52,420 cases of sexual offenses reported in the year from April 1 2018 and March 31 this year, showing an increase of 4.6 percent.
Tania Otto from the Women and Men Against Child Abuse said the figures were scary.
"This is an insult to the public's intellect as domestic crimes are under reported. There's a war on women and children," she told Xinhua. She said more work should be done to encourage victims of domestic abuse to report crimes to the police.
