As South Africa's 16 Days of Activism approaches, an opinion piece highlights the burnout faced by paralegals, social workers, and counsellors supporting gender-based violence survivors. It calls for building communities of care rather than relying on individual resilience. The author draws from personal experience in the sector to advocate for systemic changes.
Every year, the 16 Days of Activism campaign reminds South Africans to stand with survivors of gender-based violence (GBV). However, the opinion piece published on November 15, 2025, in Daily Maverick questions who supports the frontline workers—paralegals at community advice centres, social workers in underresourced townships, and counsellors—who absorb survivors' trauma daily.
These staff members are underpaid, overburdened, and at risk of burnout, leading to high turnover that fails survivors twice: first by the violence, then by an unsustainable system. The author, a former human rights attorney in the GBV sector, shares personal insights: "Each criminal justice failure felt like a personal failure. Every acquittal, every case that collapsed under the weight of delay or indifference, landed on my shoulders as if I had failed the survivor myself."
Burnout is often framed as a personal issue, with solutions like counselling or self-care workshops, but this ignores structural problems such as growing caseloads and inadequate stipends. Drawing on African feminist thought and Ubuntu philosophy—"I am because we are"—the piece argues that care must be collective. It references Jessica Horn's view that "emotional wellbeing is political," emphasizing that it cannot be outsourced while systemic issues persist.
Survivors are sustained by community support, like neighbours checking in or groups providing solidarity, rather than isolated sessions. The author proposes workplaces with mutual check-ins, rituals like shared meals after tough cases, enforced leave, and funding for collective care as essential infrastructure.
Without this, the system collapses, eroding trust. As the campaign nears, the piece urges shifting from slogans to lasting communities of care, ensuring staff and survivors are held together through Ubuntu's politics.