Mall of the South’s #Holler initiative tackles gender-based violence (GBV) head-on in the hopes of raising awareness, encouraging dialogue and fostering change in the fight against this concerning societal issue.
For the past three years, Mall of the South has run the initiative, and this year’s event was another success.
Held on August 26 and themed Taking Your Power Back, survivors of GBV shared their stories of overcoming abuse and turning their experiences into positive change.
GBV in South Africa
It is a sad reality in SA that GBV is frequent and ingrained in our social fabric. In the first three months of this year, 10 512 women were raped, and 969 killed.
While there are almost daily reports of GBV against women and children, GBV also affects men, which often remains mostly unreported, meaning we might not realise how frequently it occurs.
In KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape, it was reported that 9.6% of men had reported being sexually victimised by another male. A rape occurs every 17 seconds in SA, where one in three women and one in six men suffer that fate.
However, because men are more inclined to suffer in silence due to the stigma, the number of male victims across the board could be much higher.
These numbers are concerning and demand attention, so the Mall of the South stepped up as a strong community voice and advocated for the cause against GBV.
The birth of #Holler
#Holler began in 2021 when, after seeing the rising cases of violence against women and children during the Covid-19 lockdown, the mall, business partners and its tenants launched a campaign on Women’s Day.
Centre manager at Mall of the South, Hester Smith, said: “It has been incredible to see the response from the public to our campaigns over the last three years.
“We are so proud to be an active voice on the issue of GBV, and we intend to run these campaigns annually into the foreseeable future. We hope the impact is felt by all the victims who haven’t found their voices yet.”
Since the inception of the #Holler initiative, the Mall of the South launched the Holler Digital Safe Space – a website with a comprehensive resource centre for those impacted by GBV and the families and friends of victims.
It informs them how they can help victims and those in abusive relationships.
#Holler 2023
The 2023 event, held as a panel discussion, firmly focused on the youth, especially high school learners whose engagement with the panel was the highlight.
Four learners who are the junior commissioners of the Mondeor SAPS and who run special peer education programmes were special guests at the event.
Through these junior commissioners, learners were asked to write and submit short essays on GBV’s impact on their communities and how to fight it. Twelve essays were chosen, and these young advocates joined the event as special guests.
“Every day, we hear a new horror story with GBV at its core,” said Smith.
“This year, we wanted to focus on the younger generation, and the learners who shared the day with us had powerful engagements with the panel. The discussions around what role they can play on a peer level to raise awareness on GBV, how to support peers who have been victims of sexual abuse, peer mental health and the state of policing in the country when it comes to crime are hopefully arming them the knowledge to protect themselves and their peers as they grow into young adults.”
The panel featured speakers affected by GBV, who shared their testimonies of resilience and empowerment, along with victim support advocates, which included members of the Mondeor SAPS, ToughLove SA and the Mondeor Victim Support Unit, which guided victim support services.
The panel also had a legal representative. Collectively, these speakers provided education and insights into all GBV issues, shedding light on the challenges faced by survivors and the community.
The panellists included Andile Gaelesiwe, the founder of Open Disclosure Foundation; Sheralee Bosman, the chairperson of ToughLove SA and the Mondeor Victim Support Unit; Martin Pelders, the founder of Matrix Men Africa; Mandy Oberholzer, a victim support debriefer: Mondeor Victim Support Unit; Romana Adam, a legal representative and Sergeant Elizabeth Mnguni from the Mondeor SAPS.
The MC for the day was Tandi Potgieter, the CEO of Icarus Media, a former Mrs SA Mrs Personality, the co-director of Mrs Soweto and a board member and communications director: Women of Stature Awards.
The event closed with a short self-defence demonstration run by Paul ‘King’ Kamanga Boxing, where the audience received some safety tips.
The mall has an incredible partnership with its tenants and business partners, who also donated on the day.
“We extend a massive thank you to our business partners and tenants, without whom the event would not have been successful.
“They came on board without hesitation to provide various sponsorships for the day, which resulted in it being our biggest and most successful one to date. Their generosity reiterates the importance of this cause in SA and motivates us to keep fighting – together – for as long as we can,” said Smith.
