11th Western Cape Violence Prevention Forum meeting: "The vision begins with me"

In 2024, provincial leaders from NGOs, government, research, and development partners came together at the Western Cape Violence Prevention Forum and developed a vision of what a violence-free Western Cape would look like: a Western Cape where there is peace, freedom, and joy. A place of mutual respect, care, love, dialogue and collaboration, across the divides - where everyone has equal access and opportunity to thrive, create and blossom. A home where all belong. 

The vision was in response to discussions at past meetings that highlighted the need for an alternative way to describe violence prevention work—one that focuses on the long-term benefits and does not centre on violence.

On 29 and 30 September, the Forum held its 11th meeting at the Novalis Ubuntu Institute, focusing on how different sectors were embodying the vision in the current context and how these efforts could be made more visible. The theme of the two days was 'planting and watering seeds on the ground to realise the vision'. 

The meeting was attended by 35 leaders representing NGOs, government, research and development partners. It included discussions and presentations on the current context; a discussion on the recent Planet Youth wellbeing study, one of the largest provincial studies with youth; a visit to an existing violence prevention intervention, Philisa Abafazi Bethu; and a reflection on the power of campaigns such as MOSAIC's #ThinaSonke GBV campaign in raising awareness and mobilising the public towards prevention.

The message from the leaders was clear and powerful - we will not prevent violence or realise the vision by raising fences, declaring a 'state of emergency', and deepening divides. Evidence shows that violence is complex and a cycle. It is interlinked with the socioeconomic challenges, such as poverty and unemployment, that trap communities and families in cycles of adversity, and is worsened by the undermining of the rule of law and institutional weakness. Violence can be prevented through the whole of society working deliberately to remove sources of harm, reaching across divides and intervening early in families and communities.

Leaders valued how the meeting was convened and facilitated, reflecting the principles of the vision of dialogue across sector and identity divides, respect and care. 

21st Violence Prevention Forum Report: Building effective multisector partnerships with the private sector to prevent violence

On 15 and 16 May 2025, the national Violence Prevention Forum held its 21st meeting since its establishment in 2015. 

The impetus for this meeting came from the recognition that there was an opportunity and need to engage the private sector to better understand and inform the role that companies can and do play in preventing violence. This emanated from the observation that over the past few years, there has been an increase in references to the private sector in strategies that seek to address gender-based violence (GBV). 

Since 2015, the Violence Prevention Forum (VPF) has provided a platform for convening researchers, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), government departments, donors, development partners and the private sector. The forum’s overall objective is to ensure that knowledge and evidence are used to inform violence prevention efforts at scale in South Africa. 

The meeting was an opportunity for sectors to deepen their understanding of each other's work and  on how the private sector sees their role in violence prevention. This report highlights the research, knowledge, and insights shared at the meeting. See a short video report, here.