The National Business Initiative (NBI), together with the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), Nottingham Trent University (NTU) and the WeDare Network, launched the WeDare GBV Repository for the Private Sector in September 2025, in response to South Africa’s gender-based violence (GBV) crisis.
GBV spills beyond the confines of homes and communities into boardrooms, onto factory floors and into open-plan offices every day. With women facing a lifetime risk of gender-based violence (GBV) estimated at over 45%, and more than 2.5 million adolescent girls and young women bearing the heaviest burden, the scale of the problem demands that companies take action.
The platform is the first of its kind in South Africa, offering a centralised hub of knowledge, practical tools, research and company case studies designed to help businesses transition more decisively from awareness of GBV to action. The initiative calls for collective action that moves beyond policy compliance to systemic culture-level change.
GBV poses a moral and business imperative, since workplaces mirror the societies in which they exist. GBV erodes productivity, compromises workplace safety and undermines inclusive growth, effects that have real economic consequences. At the same time, it diminishes the quality of life and mental wellbeing of individuals.
The initiative is an example of the maturing conversation about the private sector’s role in addressing structural social harms, offering concrete resources to address this issue.
For more information on how companies can contribute to reducing GBV, visit WeDare GBV Repository for the Private Sector at https://wedare-africa.org/landing/.
