Haunting tribute to Chanelle Henning in Faerie Glen
Violence against women is a dark subject. It happens in the dark and when it’s not reported, it stays in the dark. When it is, we don’t want to see it so, we push it into the dark recesses of our minds.
“We live in what our President has called “one of the most unsafe places in the world to be a woman”. A country where a woman is murdered every three hours and where 52 420 sexual offences were reported in just 365 days. While women abuse has been declared a national crisis, there’s a lot that still needs to be done to bring this dark subject into the light,” says Casey Rousseau from 1st for Women Insurance.
During the national 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children campaign, 1st for Women will shine a light on women abuse by projecting 15 haunting tributes to victims of brutal murders, rapes and femicides on to very dark places – the actual locations of the crimes.
The first projection was filmed in Faerie Glen, Pretoria. It pays tribute to Chanelle Henning, a young mother who was murdered in November 2011. Future projections will pay tribute to victims including Hannah Cornelius who was raped and murdered near Stellenbosch, Clarissa Lindoor who was murdered in Stellenbosch, Courtney Pieters who was raped and murdered – her body was found in Epping Industria, Cape Town and Janika Mello who was raped and murdered in Heinz Park, Cape Town.
On the 16th Day (10 December 2019), the full length video will be projected onto the side of the well-known landmark in Johannesburg. The tribute will also be broadcast live on social media.
“During 16 Days of Activism we’ll remember the women we’ve lost, celebrate the lives they led and make sure that this dark subject remains in focus, not just for 16 days but for 365 days a year, every year – because remembering is not enough,” says Rousseau.
Since 2005, the 1st for Women Foundation has contributed over R70 million to various organisations that focus on fighting woman abuse. Over this period, 90 000 victims and survivors of abuse have been assisted by the Foundation. In 2017, 1st for Women launched For-Women, a platform that consolidates all women abuse fighting efforts in one place. This site features the public, private and non-profit organisations who have vowed to fight women abuse, so that survivors of abuse can find the right help, quickly. For-Women also enables South Africans and corporate South Africa who want to take a stand against women abuse to easily connect with organisations who need their help.
For more information on the 1st for Women Foundation and for updates on the campaign, visit: https://www.for-women.co.za/sixteendays.