THE West Clare Women’s Forum is continuing their campaign to high- light the on going violence against women across the country and coun- AYA This Saturday and Sunday in Kil- dee Parish Church a two day long exhibition will be hosted by the west Clare women to mark the 16 Days of Action Opposing Violence Against Women.
The project created by the West Cork Women Against Violence Project and entitled “In Her Shoes”
pays a poignant tribute to all those women who lost their lives to vio- lence during the last 11 years.
The exhibition follows on from the weekends of reflection the west Clare women took part in.
As part of their contribution to the campaign the West Clare Women’s Forum contributed to the weekend Masses in Kilrush, Kilkee and Lis- deen during the past fortnight.
The exhibition in Kilkee this week- end comprises more than 120 pairs of shoes, each pair representing one woman who had been murdered in Ireland since 1996.
A date of death for each woman who had been killed was written on a la- bel on each shoe alongside the name of a woman who donated a pair of shoes in that woman’s remembrance. A number of prominent women do- nated shoes for this purpose.
“We felt that the stark image of an exhibition of shoes would be poign- ant for viewers as they would rep- resent individual women’s stories, their lives and their deaths. The shoes symbolised the empty spaces left by the women. We called the ex- hibition “In her shoes” to bring home the fact that any one of us could be
in this situation. Domestic violence and murder can happen to anyone,” a spokesperson for the exhibition said.
The exhibition was on display in four different towns in west Cork on four days over the 16 Days of Action – Bantry, Macroom, Castletownbere and Dunmanway.
‘We chose towns where we wished to raise awareness of the issue and of our service. Volunteers and staff were available to hand out leaflets outlining the background to the 16 days of action campaign and contact details for our services,’ the spokes- person added.