Gender Violence and Rights Activist from Lavender Hill has been named as one of the Top 100 most influential women in the world. The BBC list includes women from all over the world who do groundbreaking work and are changing their communities and nations, in various fields including business, science, activism and sports. According to the BBC, South Africa faces rates of murder and rape against women and girls, Evans has also emerged as a voice for women since she leads nationwide marches, rallying thousands of women in the streets of Cape Town, challenging the government to translate policy into action.
Evans is the Founder of Philisa Abafazi Bethu, a non-governmental organisation based in Lavender Hill, Cape Town. This organization works with women and children suffering from sexual and physical abuse. The 47-year-old grew up in District Six and moved to Lavender Hill at 5 years. She grew up in a family where no one participated in community development none the less, she decided at the age of nine that this is what she wanted to do.
She wanted to be committed to protecting and empowering abused women, children and the elderly. Some of her amazing work includes a baby saver service which she installed at her house after she found a one-year-old baby in a Shoprite bag left on her stoep. The baby gets taken to a baby room on the property and from there the little one gets hospitalised for medical examination. After this, the adoption process starts. Lucinda was happy to announce on social media that the first child was placed in the baby saver. More than 31000 people reacted to post in support of what she was doing.
“I have always been passionate about the protection of children without the accolades,” Evans said. She recently resigned as the Mitchells Plain Community Policing Forum (CPF) Cluster chairperson, saying she wanted to go back to her roots and work with vulnerable people at the grassroots level where she feels she can make the most impact. “As a woman leader, ’n kind van die Flats (a child of the Cape Flats), I think it’s an absolute honour that we can show the rest of the world there are people like us who can aspire to reach the BBC,” Lucinda says. She hopes the BBC accolade will inspire young people to do more in their communities.
