Gender and violence

There can never be political, personal or ideological justification for incitement to rape, murder or any form of violence against another person.

— The African National Congress (ANC) said in a statement.

There will not be police in the bedrooms in our homes. There will not be police in our households. The neighbours know, the communities know. But we all choose to be silent.

— Khumbudzo Ntshaveni, Minister in the Presidency, at a post-Cabinet media briefing on gender-based violence (GBV)

At a time when undocumented migration is fuelling social tensions, inflammatory statements about foreign nationals are dangerous and irresponsible.

— Ramaphosa spoke this in a statement addressing migration and the social tensions it can cause, condemning inflammatory statements about foreigners.

A woman who summons the courage to report abuse must not be turned away from a police station.

— Ramaphosa said during his address to the nation that a woman who summons the courage to report abuse must not be turned away from a police station.

The abuse, rape and killing of women is not our heritage. There is no culture worthy of the name that diminishes the dignity of women. The women of South Africa have the right to walk the streets of their country at any hour without fear.

— President Cyril Ramaphosa; Heritage Day address condemning gender-based violence (in response to violence against women and the Ekurhuleni killings).

I am ashamed of what we men are doing to the women of SA.

— Ramaphosa said during a Heritage Day celebration in the Western Cape

The abuse, rape and killing of women is not our heritage.

— Cyril Ramaphosa, during his National Heritage Day address in Oudtshoorn, South Africa.

You must promise me two things. First, you will not tell anyone my name. Second, you will do what you want to do with your life.

— Dr. John Sharpe, London physician; said in 1957 to a 22-year-old American seeking an abortion, as quoted in the dedication of Gloria Steinem's My Life on the Road (2015).