A Victory Written in Silence: How Women Moved a Nation Toward Accountability
By Verna Haywood – The Unstoppable Life
On 21 November 2025, something extraordinary happened in South Africa, something that didn’t erupt in noise, flames, or chaos… but rose from silence.
A silence full of truth.
A silence full of history.
A silence full of women’s tears, women’s prayers, women’s buried screams, and women’s unbroken strength.
Outside the Benoni Magistrates Court, women stood shoulder to shoulder in a silent protest calling for Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) to be declared a National Disaster. Not merely a crisis. Not merely a public issue. But a legal classification compelling government accountability under the Disaster Management Act.
And yesterday, South Africa finally listened.
GBVF has officially been declared a National Disaster.
This is not symbolic.
This is structural, legal, historic, and spiritual.
The Power of a Quiet Storm
I have always said:
“When women stand together, the earth moves.”
This week, it did just that.
The silent protest at Benoni Court was not just an event, it was a prophetic act. A gathering of survivors, warriors, mothers, daughters, community leaders, and activists who refused to allow GBV to remain hidden behind headlines, excuses, and political avoidance.
They did not shout.
They did not scream.
They did not break anything.
But they broke something far more powerful: the resistance to acknowledging the truth. For decades, GBVF has been a national wound open, bleeding, and dismissed. But on this day, women stood in silence, and their silence was louder than any megaphone.
Among them was my beloved assistant, my sister, my friend: Claudia Archary.
A survivor.
A warrior.
A woman whose resilience radiates through every fibre of who she is.
She didn’t just attend the protest.
She participated in a movement that changed government policy.
She stood in silence for the women who never made it home.
She stood for the girls whose innocence was stolen long before they understood what danger or protection meant.
She stood for families grieving, for survivors healing, and for a nation awakening.
And through her, I saw the beauty and the burden of activism, women doing the work of justice in a world that still struggles to hear them.
Claudia’s Victory: A Voice that Shifted Legal Systems
When Claudia sent her reflection after the official declaration, I felt the weight of her words. And I felt the release.
She wrote:
“The official classification of Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) as a National Disaster fills me with an overwhelming sense of Victory, Relief, ongoing Healing and, most importantly, Hope.”
Her honesty pierced me. Because Claudia does not speak from theory, she speaks from lived experience, from wounds turned into wisdom, from pain turned into purpose.
She continued:
“The word ‘Crisis’ felt hollow. A crisis is just a word for a problem we’ve lived with for decades. But a ‘National Disaster’ demands action. It forces accountability.”
This distinction is monumental.
A “crisis” can be ignored.
A “disaster” cannot.
A “crisis” is emotional.
A “disaster” is legal.
For years, women cried out:
“We are dying.”
“We are not safe.”
“We are not protected.”
And for years, their cries were softened by bureaucratic language. But not anymore.
Because of women like Claudia and because of movements like Women for Change, whose relentless advocacy ignited an unapologetic push across the country, South Africa has shifted from ignoring to acknowledging, from placating to legislating,
from silence to structural accountability.
And Claudia’s next words became a prophetic declaration:
“This is the Victory. This is what we fought for with every signature, every protest, and every silenced minute of the National Shutdown.”
I felt her triumph.
I felt her pain.
But above all—I felt her hope.
Now Comes the Real Work: Accountability
This declaration is not the finish line. It is the starting point of something far bigger.
Claudia laid it out without hesitation:
• Swift allocation of resources to the front lines
• Better training for SAPS and first responders
• Safe, effective shelters for survivors
• A justice system that prioritises victims
• Perpetrators truly held accountable
• Justice for the families destroyed by GBVF
This is not wishful thinking.
This is the blueprint.
This is the mandate.
This is what the law now empowers women to demand.
The declaration places responsibility on the highest levels of government. It forces the national executive to respond with clarity, funding, and action.
This is why it matters.
This is why it is a victory.
This is why Claudia’s walk, and the walk of every woman beside her, was not in vain.
The law has shifted. Now the country must shift with it.
A Survivor’s Voice Becomes a Nation’s Turning Point
Claudia describes herself as a “Rape Survivor.”
But I see so much more.
I see a leader.
I see an advocate.
I see a vessel of justice.
I see a woman carrying the stories of thousands in her spirit.
I see a woman born for such a time as this.
Her courage reminds us that survivors are not merely victims of violence they are architects of change. Their voices carry authority forged in fire. Their testimony shakes systems. Their silence can be more powerful than another person’s shouting.
And it is survivors—women like Claudia—whom nations need to listen to.
Because when survivors speak, society wakes up.
When survivors stand, laws move.
When survivors rise, nations shift.
Why This Victory Matters to Me Personally:
As a survivor myself…
As a woman who has walked through the fire of abuse, loss, trauma, and resurrection…
As a woman who knows what it feels like to silence her own truth just to survive another day…
This moment is sacred. This victory is spiritual. This breakthrough is personal.
Women are not asking for special treatment.
We are asking for safety.
For dignity.
For justice.
For life.
This declaration is not simply about GBVF, it is about restoring the value of humanity, one woman at a time.
It is about telling women:
You matter.
Your pain matters.
Your healing matters.
Your story matters.
And we will no longer let the world look away.
The Future: Rising, Healing, Reclaiming
Now that GBVF is a National Disaster, we must remain vigilant. We must keep speaking. We must keep holding leaders accountable. We must keep building safe spaces. We must keep healing.
As Claudia said:
“This declaration is only the beginning.”
And she is right.
We are entering a new chapter where women’s voices carry weight. Where survivors lead movements.Where silence becomes a strategy of strength, not suppression. Where healing becomes a national priority. Where justice becomes inevitable.
This is why I say:
Powerful things happen when women collaborate.
We heal.
We rise.
We reclaim.
We become unstoppable.
Final Blessing
To every woman who walked, prayed, cried, protested, advocated, or simply survived long enough to witness this day
This victory belongs to you.
May your courage continue to rise.
May your healing continue to deepen.
May your voice continue to shake the earth.
And may you never again doubt the power of your presence.
To Claudia
I honour you.
I celebrate you.
I stand with you.
And I thank you for being a living testimony that from the deepest pain, the greatest purpose can be born.
#TogetherWeRise #StopGBVF #NationalDisasterStatus #WomenForChange #ClaudiaArchary #UnstoppableResilience