The Red Chair Project is a global campaign that runs each year during the UN’s 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. It involves reserving an empty chair in a public place, alongside information about domestic abuse and gender-based violence.
The empty chair acts as a powerful symbol of the many women who’ve been killed through gender-based violence. It is a call to ensure that no more women die in this way by taking seriously the voices of survivors in our faith spaces.
The Faith Action to End GBV Collective, through its secretariat, We Will Speak Out SA, invited partners to join this campaign for 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence in 2024.
Three easy steps were followed
- Displaying a chair in a public place in your faith institution or workplace
- Covering it in red fabric and place the poster on it
- Leaving it empty
More than awareness raising:
Adapting the campaign to suit partners own goals!
The campaign was overwhelmingly successful and carried out by diverse faith groupings including African Traditional, Baha’i, Christian, Hindu, Muslim communities. Initiatives involved:
- Localising the project by inserting local relevant support contact details and add your logo to the ones on the poster.
- Adding a list of local domestic violence and GBV support services.
- Adapting to include Red Mat campaign.
- Holding a minute of silence for an end to domestic and other forms of GBV during faith gatherings or meetings.
- Creating spaces for survivors’ voices and testimonies
- Including faith messages about gender justice and speaking out against GBV.
- Making information available on domestic violence and support services.