Hundreds of women wearing black gathered in a Johannesburg park on Friday, one day before the start of the Group of 20 summit, to stage a 15-minute lie-down protest symbolizing the 15 lives lost daily to gender-based violence in South Africa.

South Africa, while putting forward a progressive agenda on gender issues during its G20 presidency, has a femicide rate that is five times higher than the global average, according to U.N. Women, and has grappled with the problem for decades.

The protest was “a minute of silence for every woman that could have fallen within the day,” 19-year-old protest coordinator Courtney Gelderblom told The Associated Press. “So, every minute that we lie in silence is to mourn and honor those we have lost.”

Ordinary South Africans, celebrities and activists participated in the nonviolent action across several cities a day before the first G20 world leaders meeting on the African continent.

Protesters also included survivors of gender violence, some of whom wept while they laid down. Others raised placards reading “Why do you hate us?” and “My body is not your crime scene.”

Organized by the nonprofit group Women for Change, the protest was the culmination of a month of lobbying and pressure from the group asking the South African government to take action.

A protest petition received more than a million signatures.

In response, the government on Friday declared gender-based violence a national disaster, a move that orders authorities to take action and dedicate resources to combat it.

AP video: Josphat Kasire

AP production: Nqobile Ntshangase