As South Africa prepares for Women’s Month, it does so against a difficult backdrop. Social tensions are high, public anger is visible, and the country is once again being reminded how quickly exclusion, fear and violence can surface when deeper systemic issues remain unresolved.

In this context, Women’s Month cannot simply become another annual campaign of celebrations, panel discussions and social media messages. It should also be a time for organisations to ask a more difficult question:

Are we taking gender-related organisational risks as seriously as we should?

For many years, conversations around gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH) have rightly focused on human rights, dignity and equality. These issues remain critically important. But there is another conversation that deserves equal attention—one that speaks directly to boards, executives and organisational leaders.

GBVH is not only a social issue. It is also an organisational risk.

Like any significant organisational risk, its impact extends far beyond the immediate incident. It can affect employee wellbeing, productivity, absenteeism, staff turnover, organisational culture, legal compliance, governance, reputation and ultimately business performance.

Yet many organisations continue to approach GBVH primarily through awareness campaigns, policy reviews and compliance initiatives. These efforts are essential, but they often focus on responding to incidents rather than understanding where risks exist and how they can be prevented.

Every organisation routinely assesses financial, operational, legal, cyber and health and safety risks because leaders understand that informed decisions depend on understanding potential exposure before problems occur.

The same principle should apply to gender-related organisational risks.

Recent African research reinforces why this matters. Research undertaken by Shared Value Africa in partnership with the International Finance Corporation found that gender-based violence and harassment costs Kenya’s private sector an estimated KES 95.5 billion annually—equivalent to almost 1% of the country’s GDP. While the study focused on Kenya, it demonstrated something much broader: the consequences of GBVH are measurable, with significant implications for businesses, employees and national economies.

The question is no longer whether organisations should respond when incidents occur.

The question is whether organisations are doing enough to understand the conditions that allow these risks to develop in the first place.

Strong governance has never been about reacting to crises. It has always been about anticipating them, understanding them and managing them before they escalate.

As South African organisations prepare their Women’s Month programmes, perhaps the greatest opportunity lies not only in raising awareness, but in changing the conversation.

We cannot continue treating gender-based violence and harassment solely as an awareness campaign when it is, in fact, a measurable organisational risk.

Awareness creates understanding. Leadership creates commitment.

But it is informed risk management that creates accountability, strengthens governance and drives lasting organisational change.

Perhaps this Women’s Month, the most important question every board and executive team should ask is not, “What activities have we planned?”

Instead, they should ask:

“Do we truly understand our organisation’s gender-related risks—and are we doing enough to prevent them?”

Because organisations do not become more resilient by responding better to risk.

They become more resilient by recognising it before it causes harm.