Marching Shoes am 22.11.2014

Description of action

On the 22th of November, an exhibition of 135 pairs of shoes, acted as a silent march of shoes in the main shopping street. The action was presented by the Zonta Club of Karlsruhe, District 30, Area 02.The exhibition was accompanied by a SAY NO display and the cry of a women every 3 minutes.The purpose of the event was to bring awareness of violence against women to the community.

The World Health Organization says that intimate partner violence is one of the most common forms of violence against women. According to UN Women, 38 percent of all women who a murdered, are victims of their intimate partners. In Karlsruhe, the 135 pairs of women´s shoes, represented the135 women murdered by their intimate partners in Germany in 2013, according to the statistics of the German police.

Club members greeted each passer-by who stopped to look, explained the display, listened to their stories, and gave them handouts of an official telephone helpline for women affected by violence (valid all over Germany) and about Zonta Says No.

This action took place in 16 Zonta clubs from the Area 02 at the same time to increase media recognition.

 Results achieved

Hundreds of shoppers in Karlsruhe got an up-close and personal look at the problem of domestic violence, through this Zonta Says NO display. It created an open opportunity for discussions with passers-by. Some of which were affected by domestic violence themselves.

 Type of media covered

Zontians from Karlsruhe gave an interview to the local TV (Baden TV) which reported on this Zonta Says No action. In addition an article appeared in ……

 Lessons learned

While preparing the project our club became much better connected to Zonta International than it was before. The positive echo we heard encourages us to repeat this action as soon as possible and to try to find other ways to communicate our goals.