Red Chair Campaign

The Red Chair Campaign runs globally 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, pew or mat 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, invites partners to join this campaign for 16 Days of Activism.

Three easy steps

1. Display a chair, pew, mat or prayer rug in a public place in your faith institution or workplace
2. Cover it in red fabric and place the poster on it
3. Leave it empty

More than awareness raising:
We invite you to adapt the campaign to suit your own goals!

• Localise the campaign by inserting local relevant support contact details and add your logo to the ones on the poster.
• Add a list of local domestic violence and GBV support services.
• Highlight support services and contact details in your own institution.
• Hold a minute of silence for an end to domestic and other forms of GBV during faith gatherings or meetings.
• Create spaces for survivors’ voices and testimonies.
• Include faith messages about gender justice and speaking out against GBV.
• Make information available on domestic violence and support services – see the list of resources below.