Passaris joins fight against femicide, GBV as South Africa turns purple
By Cynthia Lodite, November 11, 2025Nairobi Women Representative Esther Passaris has joined thousands of Kenyans standing in solidarity with South Africa in calling for gender-based violence to be declared a national disaster.
In a post on her official X account, the legislator expressed that gender-based violence is not just a South African issue but instead a global pandemic that touches close to home.
Also Watch: Passaris calls for immediate ceasefire and sanctions as Sudan crisis worsens
“I stand in solidarity with South Africa in calling for SGBV to be declared a national disaster. This is not just a South African issue; it’s a global pandemic. It touches close to home. We continue to speak, we continue to act,” said Passaris.
While rallying behind the Purple Week movement, Passaris listed the names of Kenyan ladies whose lives were cut short due to gender-based violence.
Also Watch: Civil society groups call for collective measures in the fight against GBV in the country
“Today, we remember our own Kenyans who have died at the hands of SGBV: Agnes Tirop, Rita Waeni, Starlet Wahu, Amanda Mutheu, Susan Nabwire, and many more,” she added.
“Say their names, victims, survivors, women, and children such as Amanda. For her. For me. For you,” Passaris wrote.
West Pokot Purple Week campaign
Meanwhile, as the Purple Week campaign picks up momentum across various parts of Africa, in West Pokot County, human rights activist Emmanuel Ng’olepus Kiptoo has expressed his stand amid the ongoing Purple Week campaign.
Ng’olepus took to his X account on Tuesday, November 11, 2025, explaining the challenges witnessed by women in West Pokot County.
Having been raised in a marginalised pastoral community in West Pokot, he recalled witnessing a huge violation of girls’ and women’s rights, which he strongly condemns.
“Being from a marginalised pastoralist community in West Pokot, Kenya, I was raised witnessing great violations of girls’ and women’s rights,” Ng’olepus stated.
On his part, he recalled how female genital mutilation was part of life among the young girls in the region.
On the other hand, Ng’olepus, who is one of the young rising human rights activists in West Pokot, has detailed how early and forced marriages have been a family survival card for quite some time now.
“GBV was normalised, FGM/C was part of life, and early and forced marriages were a family survival card, but I stand to say NO,” Ng’olepus recalled.
Purple Week campaign
Notably, over the past few days, you might have noticed a wave of purple colour taking over your social media feeds; this runs from captions to profile pictures, where the timeline has now become a virtual lavender garden.
South Africans and people across Africa are now turning their profiles purple in a strong demonstration of digital solidarity ahead of the G20 Women’s Shutdown, scheduled for November 21, 2025.
What was initially a local campaign has rapidly become a continental statement, a cry for attention, a call for justice, and a reminder that Gender-Based Violence (GBV) is no longer a statistic but a national crisis.
The purple avatars are designed to bring the shutdown into the digital realm and amplify calls for urgent action to put an end to gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF).