JOHANNESBURG: South Africa said on Friday the rate of violence against women in the country was a national disaster, as thousands protested to highlight the problem ahead of this weekend’s G20 summit of world leaders.
The country has one of the world’s highest rates of gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF), leading to deaths five times higher than the global average, according to the United Nations’s gender equality organization UN Women.
In one of dozens of “lie-in” protests countrywide, thousands of people dressed in black lay on the ground for 15 minutes at an event in Johannesburg’s city center, just a few kilometers (miles) from the venue where G20 leaders will meet on Saturday and Sunday.
Organizers said the action was to honor the 15 women murdered every day in South Africa.
A 2022 government survey found that one in three South African women had experienced physical violence and almost 10 percent had faced sexual violence.
More than 10,700 cases of rape were reported to police in the first three months of 2025 but the real numbers are expected to be much higher.
“I’m here standing for not only myself but my younger sisters, my siblings and every woman in South Africa,” said one of the protesters, 23-year-old Lefika Jonathan.
the government’s disaster management said that after evaluating the “persistent and immediate life-safety risks posed by ongoing acts of violence,” it had concluded that GBVF met the “threshold of a potential disaster.”
This made the issue a priority for the executive branch of government and “all organs of state,” it said.
“All we want is justice,” said another protester, 19-year-old student Nomhle Porogo.
She hoped the timing of the protest meant “those in higher positions can hear our cries.”
But she was unimpressed by the decision to wait until South Africa was in the international spotlight to classify the problem a disaster — a longstanding demand from women’s rights groups.
“For them to declare it a national disaster when it suits them and in front of our visitors because they want to make our house look clean for visitors... is an injustice,” she told AFP.
South Africa accepts huge rate of violence against women is national disaster
https://arab.news/2fxnz
South Africa accepts huge rate of violence against women is national disaster
- Organizers said the action was to honor the 15 women murdered every day in South Africa
- More than 10,700 cases of rape were reported to police in the first three months of 2025
US widens travel ban to more than 30 countries, Noem says
- Trump signed proclamation in June banning citizens of 12 countries from entering US, restricting those from seven
- Since returning to office in January, Trump has aggressively prioritized immigration enforcement, deportations
The US plans to expand the number of countries covered by its travel ban to more than 30, US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on Thursday.
Noem, in an interview on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle,” was asked to confirm whether the administration of President Donald Trump would be increasing the number of countries on the travel ban list to 32.
“I won’t be specific on the number, but it’s over 30, and the president is continuing to evaluate countries,” she said.
Trump signed a proclamation in June banning the citizens of 12 countries from entering the United States and restricting those from seven others, saying it was needed to protect against “foreign terrorists” and other security threats. The bans apply to both immigrants and non-immigrants, such as tourists, students and business travelers.
Noem did not specify which countries would be added to the list.
“If they don’t have a stable government there, if they don’t have a country that can sustain itself and tell us who those individuals are and help us vet them, why should we allow people from that country to come here to the United States?” Noem said.
Reuters previously reported that the Trump administration was considering banning citizens of 36 additional countries from entering the United States, according to an internal State Department cable.
An expansion of the list would mark a further escalation of migration measures the administration has taken since the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., last week.
Investigators say the shooting was carried out by an Afghan national who entered the US in 2021 through a resettlement program under which Trump administration officials have argued there was insufficient vetting.
Days after the shooting, Trump vowed to “permanently pause” migration from all “Third World Countries,” although he did not identify any by name or define “third-world countries.”
Prior to that, officials from the Department of Homeland Security said Trump had ordered a widespread review of asylum cases approved under the administration of his predecessor, Democratic President Joe Biden and Green Cards issued to citizens of 19 countries.
Since returning to office in January, Trump has aggressively prioritized immigration enforcement, sending federal agents to major US cities and turning away asylum seekers at the US-Mexico border. His administration has frequently highlighted the deportation push, but until now it has put less emphasis on efforts to reshape legal immigration.
