“I would have been one of those shoes”

– survivors’ raw testimonies anchor Red Shoe Project as 16 Days of Activism 2025 opens

The Red Shoe Project’s public memorial at the Georgetown Seawall opened this year’s 16 Days of Activism not with officials, but with the unfiltered voices of women who had survived years of domestic terror, voices that organisers placed at the centre of the event.
“I sat there, and I was listening to my sister’s story… Sometimes we women, we want to hold on to material things. We don’t want to let go,” survivor Indra told the crowd, as dozens of shoes, each symbolising a woman affected by gender-based violence, lined the seawall bandstand.
Indra, who was married at 19 and remained in the relationship for 27 years, said the abuse escalated over time. “One day, he hit me so hard behind my neck, and I literally peed myself and pooped myself,” she recounted candidly. “Had it not been for those seminars and workshops, I would have been one of those shoes. Trust me.”
Another survivor, Sonia Seenarine, offered a starkly similar journey of endurance and escape. “For 15 years, I lived in a marriage that looked normal on the outside… But behind closed doors, my home was a battlefield,” she told the audience. “One day… I looked at my children’s eyes, and I saw something I have been ignoring for too long. They were afraid too.”
Seenarine said leaving was not a single moment but “a series of small steps… late-night tears, and prayers of courage.” And when she finally walked out with her children, she felt “fear, yes, but also… freedom. The air smelled different.”
Both women used their platform to also highlight gaps in the systems meant to protect victims.
Seenarine described her court experience as “brutal”, adding, “You’re saying for us to leave… but if we’re leaving, you have to provide something.” She urged practical support such as “workshop to empower us… like jobs.”
The Red Shoe Project, a partnership between the Women and Gender Equality Commission and the Civil Society National Reference Group, invites the public to donate shoes “in the name of someone and maybe share a story.” The installation, organisers said, is a visible reminder of the women “who have lost their lives to violence.”
Behind the bandstand, photos of murdered women fluttered on a line. According to the organisers, violence surged early in the year and only “lessened at this time, so people are relaxed again,” a pattern they warned will repeat unless prevention is intentional. “If every day we wake up with the intention to not be violent… it’ll not be so traumatic for us,” said civil-society representative Bibi Ahmad.
Ahmad challenged cultural narratives about violence: “A man was saying… men are naturally creatures of violence… I want to be able to question him on that.” She added, “Change begins with you. If you don’t change, then nothing will change.”
UN Resident Coordinator Jean Njeri Kamau told the crowd that violence against women “remains one of the most widespread human rights concerns worldwide,” with “one in three women” experiencing violence in their lifetime. She added that “one woman or girl is killed every 10 minutes by an intimate partner or family member.”
Kamau emphasised the rising threat of digital abuse: “The online world… has become a source of harm for many women and girls… especially those with public visibility.” She warned that online acts “go on into real-life harm… coercion, physical violence, and in most tragic cases, femicide.”
She called for a “whole-of-Government approach”, citing the need for data, prevention work, online safety investment, and sustained support for survivors. “Every effort you make… every word of kindness… every instance where you challenge online hate speech… is important,” Kamau said.
Last year, the National Assembly passed the Family Violence Act, replacing the 1996 Domestic Violence Act. The new law includes “sweeping new provisions”, such as allowing Police to enter a premises without a warrant to assist someone under threat. It comprises 58 clauses and adopts a “modern framework designed to offer expansive protection.”
But organisers stressed that the law alone cannot shift culture, social norms, or survivor outcomes.
“We still have a global problem,” Kamau said, noting that despite international promises since Beijing in 1995, women are still “putting our hands out there and saying we need to stop violence against women.”
Survivors echoed that sentiment. “If we’re going to advise us women to leave… then you have to open doors for us,” Sonia said. “We can do better… so much more for our women.”
For many who spoke, the installation was not simply a memorial but a demand for change.
“Every pair of shoes represents life that was taken too soon,” Sonia reminded the crowd. “Let us make a promise that we will raise our voice so their silence is not the end of the story.”
Indra, standing tall after decades of abuse, shared the message she now teaches others: “Look yourself in the mirror and motivate yourself because your life matters. Your children’s life matters.”
And she ended her testimony with the declaration that carried the weight of the afternoon:
“Today, whenever I go out to speak, I introduce myself. I’m Indra, a proud divorcee… I can motivate women to be independent and to start loving themselves.”