Since the tragic abduction and murder of Sarah Everard, our women's group in Coventry decided that we wanted to hold an event honouring the women murdered by men on The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Using the statistics and details provided by Karen Ingala Smith, we have every year since then, held a vigil in the city centre, using pairs of shoes to represent each woman who is now sadly no longer with us, to raise awareness of this issue. We also, on the hour, read out the names of these women to remember them.
It's a very moving and powerful event, highlighting local women's organisations and now we have got local councillors and MPs involved, women performing poems and songs, and we have many conversations with members of the public who are often shocked at the numbers of woman affected. We have also managed to get local press and TV stations reporting on this.
Last year we made a video of the event. We'd be very grateful if you took some time to watch it to see what we do ( it's not professional, so the sound quality isn't brilliant ), and help raise awareness of this issue. I know there's lots of women and organisations around the world who are also holding events in this day and we're very proud to do our part this Saturday.