What began as a concern raised at a store level quickly exposed a far more serious issue: a complete systems failure in how Woolworths handles sensitive matters relating to gender-based violence across its organisation.After raising my initial concern in good faith, the issue escalated across multiple internal touchpoints including store management, customer service, social media teams, complaints handling, and the press office. Instead of clarity, care, or consistency, each escalation revealed further misalignment, poor communication, and a lack of accountability.What has been most disturbing is the stark disconnect between Woolworths’ public statements and my private experience. Publicly, the company positions itself as a brand that stands with GBV victims, emphasising values of dignity, respect, and support. Privately, the responses I received across different teams repeatedly contradicted those values. Messages were inconsistent, dismissive at times, and in some cases caused additional distress.The issue was not handled with the sensitivity or seriousness that a GBV-related matter demands. Different departments appeared to operate in silos, with no shared understanding of context, no continuity of care, and no clear ownership of the problem. Social responses conflicted with complaint responses. Press office positioning conflicted with direct communications. What should have been a coordinated, empathetic response instead became fragmented and deeply disheartening. Despite multiple promises by Woolworths that I would receive updates, this was never done. The only update I received was after I followed up multiple times, across multiple platforms and email addresses. While Woolworths has stated that it stands with GBV victims, I did not feel stood with at any point in this process. I felt unheard, unsupported, and left to navigate an incoherent system during a moment that required care, accountability, and integrity.This experience raises serious questions about whether Woolworths’ public commitments to GBV awareness and support are meaningfully embedded into its internal systems, training, and response protocols, or whether they exist primarily at the level of messaging.Standing with GBV victims cannot be performative. It must be reflected consistently across every touchpoint, especially when a real person is asking to be heard.
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Woolworths Holdings Limited is a South Africa-based multinational retail company that owns the South African retail chain Woolworths, and Australian retailers David Jones and Country Road Group.
