Cape Town - The Women's Legal Centre (WLC) said they were holding the government accountable as gender-based violence spiralled and that discrimination in the workplace and society still existed.
They said statistics showed that 1 101 women were murdered during their 2022 campaign and 5 935 raped.
The centre said much funding was spent on campaigns during the 16 days of Activism of No Violence Against Women and Children but asked if it worked to make a difference.
They said in a previous report, Statistics SA revealed that one in five women experienced physical violence.
The centre referred to the 2023 crime statistics which showed that more women were killed during the first three months of this year compared to the same period last year.
It showed that 969 women were killed and 1 485 had filed attempted murder cases and more than 15 000 were assaulted.
They explained their campaign targeted state obligations to the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (Cedaw).
In 2013, the WLC, alongside partner organisations, initiated a request to the Cedaw committee requesting an investigation into the alarming levels of domestic violence in South Africa.
The WLC's Chriscy Blouws said many women continued to face discrimination, even in the workplace, and were not free of violent attacks and that policies and labour regulations also had to change to break the stigma and narratives.
“Many of our professions, our homes and spaces that women navigate still carry the weight and stigma of our discriminatory past,” said Blouws.
“As a result, certain areas of labour, including sex work, domestic work and care work are considered to be ‘women's work' and are undervalued, under-appreciated, underpaid and criminalised.
Blouws said: “This stigma also impacts on women's ability to make free and informed decisions about their bodies, their ability to live free from violence and to be equal in relationships.
Blouws added: “To achieve transformative and lasting substantive gender equality for women, we recommend that the South African government implement the CEDAW and condemn intersectional discrimination against women in their diversity, in all its forms and take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to modify or abolish existing laws, regulations, customs and practices that continue discrimination against women.”
The centre said that women faced discrimination in the workplace in areas such as domestic services where they were not recognised or paid according to their constitutional and labour rights.
The Izwi Domestic Workers Alliance's Amy Tekie emphasised that employers should be held accountable for upholding labour regulations.
“In addition to enforcing labour law compliance and UIF/Coida registration, the South African government should urgently include domestic workers in the full minimum wage, and amend Sectoral Determination 7 to address rights to privacy, equality, freedom of movement, maternity and family life, and adequate housing standards for live-in workers,” Tekie said.
Embrace Dignity's Pinky Khoabane said they advocated for the vicious cycle of violence to be broken by decriminalising those selling sex and providing exit channels.
The Solidarity Centre's Ziona Tanzer added that workplace regulations still has significant gender gaps.
“The Code of Good Practice on Sexual Harassment at Work does not meaningfully apply outside the formal employment context,” she said.
“It also does not prohibit strip searches, which women report experiencing as a form of sexual assault.
“Occupational health and safety legislation does not require a gender risk assessment to ensure that workspace, operations and culture do not render women vulnerable to gender-based violence and harassment.
“South Africa must require employers to take reasonable measures to ensure worker access to safe transportation, particularly when they require women to work at night or irregular hours.
“The Basic Conditions of Employment Act must prohibit employers from automatically placing pregnant women working in hazardous occupations such as mining on unpaid maternity leave.”