Andrea Dondolo is a South African actress and activist.

"I think a state of emergency is the right category to classify violence against girls and women, an ill that is sweeping through our nation like the feared bush or shack fires of Khayelitsha. I feel as a public figure I must use the power this status has blessed me with to encourage people to rise up and be heard. It took courageous leaders to stand and voice their opinion against apartheid, and hence through blood and sweat of our martyrs we got our freedom. Slowly but surely this phenomena of abuse, rape and mutilation of women and children is a new apartheid, setting us apart and making us hate each other."

"I am rising up and using every chance I get to encourage debate, speaking up against this atrocity. I am on an awareness campaign about how we can make a difference by not being spectators but being activists for change."

Andrea Dondolo stood up for women on Table Mountain in Cape Town South Africa as part of One Billion rising, to call for an end to violence against women and girls.

She's one of our heroes for The Guardian's Ending gender violence: your heroines and heroes photo project.

Background

In March 2013 the United Nation's Commission on the Status of Women is meeting to discuss how to prevent all forms of violence against women and girls.