Breaking the chains: a survivor’s plea

Vanessa Govender shares her harrowing journey as a survivor of gender-based violence, urging South Africa to confront the ongoing crisis that affects millions of women. This Women’s Month, she calls for collective action to break the silence and reclaim power

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AS THE sun sets over the rainbow nation this Women’s Month, August 2025, | find myself staring into the mirror, tracing the invisible scars that time has etched into my soul and some still visible on my skin.

Iam Vanessa Govender - journalist, author, mother, and a survivor of gender-based violence. My story, laid bare in my memoir Beaten But Not Broken, is not unique. It’s a haunting echo in the lives of millions of South African women who wake up each day to a reality where love turns lethal, where homes become battlegrounds, and where silence is the deadliest weapon of all.

This month, dedicated to celebrating women, feels like a cruel irony when the shadows of violence loom larger than ever. We cannot honour women while ignoring the epidemic that claims their lives, their dignity, and their futures. South Africa, it’s time to wake up. The blood of our sisters stains our soil, and we must act. Let me take you back to the darkest time in my life. I was a successful broadcaster, a voice for the voiceless, yet in the quiet confines of a relationship, I was reduced to a shadow of myself.

The punches, the slaps, the kicks and the threats, the psychological torment, it wasn’t just physical; it shredded my spirit. I survived, I was one of the lucky ones. But so many women never make it out alive. And that’s the gut-wrenching truth we're facing in 2025.

Despite promises and protests, genderbased violence (GBV) remains a scourge that defies our democracy. According to recent reports, while overall violent crime dipped in the second quarter of 2024, GBV crimes surged, painting a grim picture of a nation failing its women. The government itself has labelled gender-based violence a “national crisis’ and a “second pandemic,” yet the statistics scream louder than any speech.

The numbers are not just data; they are daughters, mothers, sisters.