What are University of Johannesburg student's views on the social movement activism against Gender Based violence and Harm (GBVH)?

Social movements are diverse coalitions of people who are linked by a common desire for social change (Delle & Mattoni 2015). Social movements can mobilize to support a specific social change or to oppose a social change that is being promoted by another organization (Della & Mattoni 2015). To be called a social movement, these movements do not need to be formally coordinated (Della & Mattoni 2015). Various alliances may work together for popular goals while still being considered a social movement (Della & Mattoni 2015).

Recently in South Africa there have been social movement and protest against Gender Based Violence and Harm (GBVH), where thousands of people gathered in the streets of South Africa to raise their concerns about Gender Based Violence and Harm (GBVH) such as domestic violence and rape. On Saturday, August 29, 2020, activists in South Africa have called for various demonstrations against gender-based violence. Participants in Johannesburg assembled at the Commission for Gender Equality at 12:00 p.m. local time before marching to Constitution Hill. In Cape Town, a similar march was planned to begin at 11:00 a.m. outside the Parliament building. Protesters gathered at the Union Buildings Gardens in Pretoria around 11:00 a.m. Demonstrators assembled at the Durban Beachfront at 11:00 a.m. before marching to Durban City Hall.

Gender-Based Violence (GBV) refers to violence that arises because of conventional gender-role expectations as well as unequal power structures between genders in each society (Russo & Piriott 2006). Gender-Base-Violence GBV is described by the United Nations as any act that causes or is likely to cause physical, sexual, or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats, intimidation, or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether in public or private life (Russo & Piriott 2006).