Tears Foundation founder Mara Glennie is calling for institutions to move beyond symbolic inclusion and place lived experience at the centre of frontline responses. Survivors of gender-based violence could increasingly have a say in how South Africa designs and delivers support services, if calls for survivor-led responses gain traction.

Glennie said survivors’ lived experiences must play a central role in South Africa’s response to gender-based violence, warning frontline services cannot rely on professional training alone to understand the realities faced by victims.

Glennie founded Tears Foundation in 2012 after surviving a life-threatening assault. She built a national support model that has assisted 750,000 gender-based violence callers to date.

“I appeal to all organisations that deal with domestic abuse, coercive control and stalking, including the police, to have lived experience represented when decisions are made, as it is pivotal in shaping a meaningful response against GBV,” said Glennie.

“An intellectual understanding of the problem is not the same as being face to face with the victim. You have to be able to hug the survivor who’s in pain. Only look for solutions once that person feels safe.

“Every single case is an individual case with a person who has individual needs.  The first person you tell, ‘I’ve been raped’ or ‘I’ve been beaten up’ can determine whether that person feels understood, loved, and cared for.”

She called for the appointment or contracting of people with lived experience in survivor services and decision-making roles, the inclusion of survivor advisers when writing policies and designing reporting, training and digital safety systems, the protection of confidentiality, provision of trauma-aware support and fair payment of lived experience contributors, and the measurement of whether each response leaves survivors safer, believed and able to reach help.

Her call comes after she received two major honours during Women’s Month. She was recognised at the Influential Awards 2026 at Gold Reef City in Johannesburg for her contribution to changing lives through courage, innovation and compassion. The Cosatu Gauteng Gender Structure also honoured her as a Community Impact Leader at its Fix Her Crown event in Braamfontein.

OFM News/Zenande Mpame dg

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