Why the 'Children' in 16 Days of Activism Must Not Be an Afterthought

There seems to be tension in the South African context on the 16 Days of Activism. While the campaign is officially named "16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children," the visibility and resonance of the "Children" aspect often seems to get overshadowed. While the official campaign mandate clearly includes children, the press coverage and the visible focus of many organisational programs tend to be dominated by the issue of violence against women and femicide (GBVF).

The overwhelming evidence from media monitoring and research confirms that Violence Against Women (especially Femicide) receives significantly higher and more sustained media attention than Violence Against Children (Child Abuse).  Some of the reasons for the focus on GBV and Femicide include:

• High-Profile Narrative: The focus on femicide is driven by numerous, often brutal, high-profile that generate massive public outrage, leading to social media trends, protests, and sustained coverage across all news platforms.

• Political Response: This public pressure forces immediate and visible political responses, such as speeches by the President, the signing of new laws and public service announcements, which the media then covers extensive. Recently The NDMC has classified GBV and femicide as a National Disaster.

• The "Second Pandemic: The description of GBV as a "second pandemic" in South Africa has strongly focused the national conversation on the adult female victims of this crisis.

• Organized Activism: Women's rights movements are highly organized and effective at lobbying, generating media content, and framing the discussion. Child protection NGOs often seem to lack the collective, high-decibel political voice that feminist organizations have developed over decades.

• Accessibility of Narratives: Adult women victims/survivors (or their families) can more easily speak publicly, share their stories, and advocate.  Child victims are often legally and ethically protected from being prominently featured, making their stories less accessible and less central to the media narrative.

In recent events for the 2025 16 days campaigns, reflected that 15 SA Women per day are murdered – as opposed to [only] 3 to 4 children. Stats from UNICEF, StatsSA and SAPS reflects [severe under-reporting applies to both GBVF and Child Abuse Victims]

• Rape/Sexual Abuse: 111 Women; 58 Children

• Assault GBH: 156 Women; 21 Children

• Attempted Murder: 17 Women; 5 Children

 The 16 days of Activism is not a number’s game, and coverage [both in terms of the press and activities and campaigns undertaken] of violence against women AND children should reflect this. 

It is also not an either/or situation.  Programs and media coverage focusing on violence against women should not be scaled down – it should scale up and be consistent, active and visible outside of national campaigns.

But we – in particular the media - have no right to treat the violence against our children as an afterthought.