Islamic Relief South Africa will form a human chain along the Klipfontein corridor on Friday December 1 to mark the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children campaign, which will run from Saturday November 25 to Sunday December 10.
Advocacy coordinator Taariq Mathiba said the organisation is appealing to the community to join them.
The plan is for schools to form a human chain between 7.45am and 8am and for mosques to do so for 15 minutes after Friday prayer (Jumuah).
Mr Mathiba said people are encouraged to wear a white shirt with a slogan relating to the campaign and this will form part of their Dirty Laundry campaign.
Each person would be asked to take a picture of their shirt and post it on social media in order to spread awareness about the day.
He said businesses would be encouraged to display their shirts in their shop windows.
“We will assist with shirts and sweaters where people don’t have. We want businesses to come on board and we want the smaller organisations whose communities are affected by gang violence and gender-based violence (to join us),” said Mr Mathiba.
He said Islamic Relief is hoping to create awareness about gender-based violence as many people still don’t know how rife it is.
“We want people to know what it is and be aware of it, not just during this time but all year around,” said Mr Mathiba.
He said the more organisations on board, the more successful the campaign will be.
“A collaboration would be better because then we will reach more people,” he said.
As part of the campaign, Islamic Relief South Africa will also be posting stories on their website about people who have been victims of gender-based violence.
He said that they are also hoping for different faith-based organisations and the police to get involved.
For more information, contact Taariq Mathiba on 011 836 1054 or Rishqah Sulaiman on 021 696 0145