Waves was produced and directed by Jessie Ayles - a South African and British filmmaker, motivated to create conversations and impact around women’s rights and marginalized voices within South Africa.

The film listens to three girls from Lavender Hill [Cape Town] explaining the struggles they have in dealing with the fear and emotion derived from gender based violence and femicide.

Femicide - the killing of a woman or girl, in particular by a man and on account of her gender.

A woman is murdered in South Africa every three hours - shockingly, South Africa is only the fourth highest for femicide in the world. 35% of young people will be sexually assaulted by their 18th birthday.

Murders recorded by the police have been rising every year for the last decade, and sexual offenses including rape have risen 4.6% this year - with 41% of rape cases reported against children. These incidents have become an increasingly unbearable yet normal part of life for many girls in South Africa.

The spike in violence against women, alongside three recent murders, have ignited protests in many areas across South Africa over the last few weeks. Action from the government is being demanded.

Waves is an important tool in this current conversation - it’s aim is to inform international audiences about the reality of life for the majority of female South African’s who live in these communities, and spark support for charities and NGO’s on the ground who are making life a little more bearable for those affected.

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Ayles << I knew I wanted to make a film about young girls who live in these more violent communities in South Africa, but I had no idea where the film would take me. I would spend time with the girls during their surf lessons to get to know them, but one day surfing was cancelled because the weather conditions weren't right and there had just been an incident in their community that had everyone shaken up. A 13-yr-old girl had been found raped and mutilated. We sat in a circle, myself and about 10 other young girls, and these young girls, about 10-14 yrs themselves, spoke about how this death of their peer made them feel. From that point I knew what I wanted the film to explore. >>

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For more information please look at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-49739977

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