On Thursday the 5th of September thousands of women and men matched in solidarity to parliament to protest against gender based violence. For as long as I can remember South Africa has had an uncomfortably high rate of rape and murder. This really hit home over the course of last month (Women's month) with several high profile rapes and murders. 

Finally, South Africans reached breaking point and decided enough is enough. The public wanted to be heard, wanted to be listened to, wanted to be understood. And so we heard the accounts from rape survivors, from rape crisis organisations and from the President himself. Many sobbed in the crowd, either direct victims of sexual abuse or gender based violence, or knowing someone who has been. People were furious, outraged and heartbroken.

When our President addressed the crowd people chanted 'action action action'. The public will no longer tolerate empty promises and empty words. The President was even booed by the crowd several times as the people want action. The people of South Africa want change. The proposed reforms the President was speaking about should be standard in any case, now all we can do is to keep the same energy directed towards this issue. The same feelings of zero tolerance. 

Hello Pretty supports many women-run businesses and we just want our sellers as well as our customers to know that we will continue to support you in every way we can. We hope that our platform contributes to a sense of empowerment in this rather tumultuous climate we're experiencing here in South Africa at the moment.