She said young women need to turn to strong women within their families for guidance.
"You need to break the cycle of crying and weakness and being treated like a second-class citizen.
"It is easy to say the conditions are not right, but instead young women must focus on their education. They need positive energy and to realise that nobody is going to take them out of their situation except themselves.
"You don't need somebody to tell you how pretty you are, especially today. More girls need to be educated and need to go to university. Girls need to be bold.
"We need more women in decision-making bodies so young women can look up to them as leaders."
She said despite the plight of GBV there were also many positive things women could be proud of. She gave Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis as an example of women leaders making an impact in the world.
"We got here because women fought for our rights. Women today must take a stand together and advocate. We need to pull each other up.
"Believe in yourself. Don't allow anyone to bring you down."
WOMEN'S DAY | 'Women today must take a stand together — we need to pull each other up': Lindiwe Zulu
Image: Linda Mthombeni
Young women need to focus on their education to break the cycle of being treated like second-class citizens.
This is according to minister of social development Lindiwe Zulu, who spoke to TimesLIVE on the sidelines of the launch of the Ferguson Foundation in Johannesburg on Friday night.
Zulu was speaking in a month which saw particularly horrific incidents of violence against women, when they are supposed to be celebrated.
"It's always scary being a woman when there so many women being abused and so many women in such a difficult time. But it's most important to realise that the time has come for change because we are not going to be saved by somebody else," she said.
'We have to make decisions as women to break the cycle of violence.
"Abuse is not normal. It's not normal for young women to see the violence they're seeing."
Image: Sunday Times
She said young women need to turn to strong women within their families for guidance.
"You need to break the cycle of crying and weakness and being treated like a second-class citizen.
"It is easy to say the conditions are not right, but instead young women must focus on their education. They need positive energy and to realise that nobody is going to take them out of their situation except themselves.
"You don't need somebody to tell you how pretty you are, especially today. More girls need to be educated and need to go to university. Girls need to be bold.
"We need more women in decision-making bodies so young women can look up to them as leaders."
She said despite the plight of GBV there were also many positive things women could be proud of. She gave Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis as an example of women leaders making an impact in the world.
"We got here because women fought for our rights. Women today must take a stand together and advocate. We need to pull each other up.
"Believe in yourself. Don't allow anyone to bring you down."
LISTEN | No justice for 52-year-old rape victim after case closed
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