As many as 10,000 people  participated in marches in the Johannesburg neighborhood of Sandton on Friday in an effort to gain more protection for women.

Civil society groups are taking part in peaceful protests against sexual, gender-based violence and femicide.

Members of the public from Alexandra, Pretoria, Soweto, Carletonville, Tembisa, the Vaal as well as universities across the province will join the protest to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange stating that “it will not be business as usual”.

“It WILL NOT be business as usual in Sandton on Friday. We will NOT be silenced. We are done praying! We are done with dialogues! We are done with listening to messages condemning violence by men. It’s time for action!” Total Shutdown, one of the organizers of the protests tweeted on Thursday afternoon.

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) issued a statement in support of the protest, saying the goal is to shut down normal business operations, and to disrupt economic activity in order to highlight these issues which are destroying society.

“Attacks against women and children are worsening in South Africa. The murder rate has gone up, including the rate of sexual offenses against children,” said Numsa in a statement issued by its second deputy president, Ruth Ntlokotse.

“It is unsurprising therefore that the war against women has intensified. On average one woman is killed every three hours in South Africa, and in most cases the perpetrator is a man who is known to the victim.”

The protests are in the wake of the tragic deaths of several young women in South Africa, including Uyinene Mrwetyana, Leighandre Jegels, Meghan Cremer and Ayakha Jiyane and her three siblings – all acts of gender-based violence.

(Source: Independent Online)