Make SA safe for women before another life is lost

Women have endured countless deaths, pleading for their right to simply exist without fear. From the youngest to the oldest, urban and rural, educated and uneducated, the issue of female safety has been a persistent concern. Despite marches, protests, prayers, and demands for attention, the bodies continue to pile up, and pleas fall on deaf ears. The question arises: at what point does the grief become too much, the price of being female?

The latest victims should not be yet another statistic. These were women with lives, routines, responsibilities, and dreams. Yet, when women are killed, the conversation shifts to what they could have done differently: alter routes, avoid walking alone, walk in groups, carry protection, share locations, and be more vigilant. However, women are not victims of ghosts, but of men who reside among them. We keep telling women how to survive rather than asking why they must live as though danger is always lurking.

While we speak about women being killed, where is the same urgency in addressing the men responsible? Safety should not solely be a responsibility placed upon those being hunted. Effective policing, investigations, intelligence, functioning streetlights, safe public spaces, and timely responses to missing person reports are matters of state responsibility, not lifestyle choices for women. The question remains: what more are women expected to do when they are already doing everything society has demanded of them?

We are exhausted, having done everything required of us. It is time to address the societal fabric that has unraveled. We are tired, but we continue to plead for our lives. While the government, lawmakers, and security forces obsess over securing elections, they fail to secure the women whose votes they seek. A woman should not need to become a security expert to survive.

To those in power, we are tired, but we also plead to stay alive. While we address the broken societal fabric, may your indifference to our continued lack of safety propel you to actively ensure that women and girls remain alive. We do not require another declaration, speech, or promise after a tragedy strikes. We need action while we, our daughters, and other women are still here, and while there are still women left to save.