Youth Network to launch a GBVF app to curb high cases of abuse in South Africa

In partnership with its coalition members through the Generation Gender (G) programme, ACTIVATE! Change Drivers joins Sonke Gender Justice and Action Aid to launch an unprecedented application called, Gen G Engage, which aims to empower civil society organizations (CSOs), young people, and communities, by providing them with tools and resources to efficiently access justice and provide support in gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) cases across the country.

The announcement of the application (app) launch takes place at the close of Human Rights Month to further highlight the ongoing Human Rights violations with the rise in cases of gender-based violence in the country. The app will be a digital platform to critically engage on matters regarding GBVF and will have three components: Access to Justice, Access to Information, and Gen G Engage.

During the 2025 State of the Nation address, H.E. President Cyril Ramaphosa reflected on how the South African Government has recognised that gender-based violence (GBV) is a ‘national crisis’ and a ‘second pandemic’ that is a serious human rights abuse affecting all sectors of society. GBV is a widespread and entrenched socio-economic problem that stems from an unequal distribution of power and privilege between men and women.

Engaging in technology is not a new phenomenon in South Africa particularly with the youth who are online. Young people form a large number of the population in South Africa affected by GBVF. The Generation G programme seeks to strengthen the capabilities of young people to influence positive change by promoting gender justice and preventing GBVF.

The Gen G Engage app aims to create a digital community platform to enable collaboration, support and mobilization among youth and the civil society sector to further this aim. The coalition believes that this will likely amplify the work of the Generation G programme by empowering youth to mobilize public support towards the creation of gender-just and violence-free societies.

Some of the features of the application include a platform that creates an easy way for youth to engage with one another, and plan events not necessarily linked to GBV but having an impact on the communities they come from. The App will also be a place for building community support for issues and challenges and a place to exchange ideas for solutions.

Programmes Director at ACTIVATE Change Drivers Rammolotsi Sothoane, considers the invention of a digital platform as a convenient platform to access the already online youth demographic.

“South Africa’s youth represent largely untapped potential to address pressing social challenges facing us today, including the challenge of gender-based violence and femicide. Social media platforms are increasingly becoming important tools in amplifying the voice of young people in responding to the challenge of GBVF as they can empower them to share information and resources and raise awareness about issues they are faced with. The Gen G Engage App will enable young people to access relevant, evidence-based information and resources on how to effectively access the justice system”, Sothoane.

Policy Development and Advocacy Specialist at Sonke Gender Justice, Namuma Mulindi believes that the application ties in with the sustainability framework of the coalition to provide civil society-based organisations with meaningful tools towards the redress of GBV and to highlight the gaps from the state led efforts.

“We receive a lot of requests for support on GBV cases and often the assistance required relates to bottlenecks in the criminal justice system. This is where activists providing support to survivors have followed due process in opening cases but these cases stall at the SAPS (South African Police Services), or in court or are withdrawn altogether with a lack of sufficient explanation or justification”, Mulindi.

“Yet as a coalition, we sit with cases from activists and survivors who know the full facts of the cases they present to us; they often do not have the details we need to provide support or that would be if used in holding State actors within the criminal justice system accountable”, Mulindi.

The app’s three essential components will facilitate justice access, provide valuable information, and foster engagement among users.

“The Case Monitoring tool on the App shall enable those using it to collate details that keep track of the SAPS CAS number, the court in which the matter is being heard, the number of postponements and the reasons given for the postponements. The App shall also enable us to track efficacy of the Thuthuzela Care Centres, and that psychosocial support is made a priority to survivors”, Mulindi.

The App is also designed to ensure that the coalition develops an evidence-based approach to hold duty bearers accountable to address GBV because it is a simplified method of data collection that will show how effective SAPS is and whether there are enough SAP stations to service an area to sufficiently address GBV.

“This is not the first pro to type for GBV App, during the processes of developing ours we became aware of two other Apps however, the other pro to types made us more aware of the need for an App that takes a civil society human-centred design approach. This App is not just about a means to an end making life easier or more fun depending on the App one is accessing, unlike other Apps the Gen G Engage App is for community benefit and upliftment. The more CBOs (civil society-based organisations) use this app the more we will be able to track service delivery on issues of GBV it is a means via which to hold duty bearers accountable”, she adds.

Hosting the official launch of the Gen G Engage app and reflecting on the innovation of the application designed over six months, Action Aid South Africa Country Director, Sakhile Zungu said the application would mark a milestone in the civil society space where an invention of this nature did not exist.

“There are no specific GBVF digital platforms for civil society and young people working on gender justice to engage and work collaboratively. The Gen G app will enable dissemination of information which will strengthen the knowledge base of civil society and youth through its access to the justice tab, secondly, case monitoring enables civil society to effectively to monitor cases from start to finish”, Zungu.

The coalition looks to make the application accessible on all platforms and eventually test our option to access the application without the use of data.

“In the meantime, a case monitoring toolkit will be accessible on the app to enable members to use the app to track the progress of their cases. The data stored on the app will be accessible through a backroom to generate reports. These reports will be used for evidence-based advocacy on GBV policy implementation”, Zungu.

“The reports will help us showcase the challenges of trying to access justice. The Gen G Engage app will be a digital community platform for collaboration, support and mobilization in the promotion of gender justice. The app will allow activists to host webinars, roundtable discussions and that are accessible to all and post live conversations. Access to information, a reservoir of information (Resources tab) and education materials such as guidelines on how to report cases, GBVF policy position papers policy submissions and toolkits on youth participation within in community and structures of power. Community activists and young people will be able to access information”, he adds.

The features of the application will serve the following purposes:

1. The Access to Justice component of the app will be used by the Generation G Network members, university students, and youth in general to effectively monitor GBVF cases from start to finish.
2. The Access to Information component on the app aims to act as a reservoir of information and education materials such as guidelines on reporting cases, GBVF policy position papers and policy submissions, and toolkits on youth participation within the community and structures of power
3. The Gen G Engage component will be a digital community-enabling platform for collaboration, support, and mobilization in the promotion of gender justice.

The app will be available on iOS and Android for download after the official launch scheduled for 4 April  2025 in Johannesburg South Africa. To be part of the launch, use the media details below.

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For media inquiries:

Zamayirha Peter | Call: +27 76 322 3598 | Email: communications@activateleadership.co.za

For launch inquiries:

slu.molamodi@actionaid.org | amu@genderjustice.org.za

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About Generation G

Generation G SA is a program that aims to mobilise youth in their full diversity towards a violence-free society. Gen G does this through capacity–building workshops, community dialogues, and stakeholder engagements.