Posted:
by QW+ staff writer
Media Release: Quote This Woman+ calls for better language around 16 Days Activism campaigns
26 November 2025: Quote This Woman+ (QW+), an African feminist non-profit working to build a gender-just media, has released an open letter calling on government, international NGOs, academics, media professionals and civil society to choose their words with care during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gendered Violence campaign.
The open letter challenges the linguistic bleaching of gender violence through the over-reliance on acronyms like “GBV” (Gender Based Violence), “VAWG” (Violence Against Women and Girls) and “IPV” (Intimate Partner Violence) in policy, media, and advocacy spaces. QW+ argues that while acronyms may feel efficient or protective, they often dilute the reality of violence and shift attention away from perpetrators and the systems that enable harm.
Kath Magrobi, founder of QW+, says: “It’s time to turn our attention to how we conduct this conversation. We need to think about who we enable and protect with the words we choose, and who we harm. And we need to stop being oblivious that the language we default to is a choice, whether it’s conscious or not.
“We default to acronyms because gender violence unsettles us. But softening our language means we soften our activism. We protect the perpetrators and we don’t demand accountability from the institutions. Little wonder nothing changes.”
The letter highlights the psychological effects of sanitised language, and best practices to name violence precisely in order to confront it. QW+ calls on all individuals and institutions shaping public discourse to take six actions:
- to think before defaulting to acronyms
- to be conscious gatekeepers of narrative
- to use curiosity and compassion to gain clarity
- to centre the systems that enable violence
- to platform complexity and context
- to edit with intention and courage
About QW+: QW+ is an African feminist organisation working to close the gender gap in news and public discourse by connecting journalists to women+ and marginalised experts, running
intersectional media training programmes, and shifting harmful narratives in the media ecosystem.
For interviews or further information, contact Kath Magrobi, Director, Quote This Woman+
+27846888980 / kath@quotethiswoman.org.za /www.quotethiswoman.org.za