October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. As part of my work with Survived & Punished, I developed a curriculum unit with contributions from others focused on the criminalization of domestic violence survivors. It is our hope that people will use the unit for political education and consciousness-raising in October and beyond. The curriculum can be accessed here at no cost. Complete the survey and make sure to copy and paste the link to download the curriculum before exiting.

After what has been a very emotionally taxing and potentially triggering week for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence, I’m also sharing an activity that I hope will provide an opportunity to honor and uplift the victims and survivors of gender-based violence in our communities.

My comrade artist Ruby Pinto created a set of silhouettes that can be used to create a wall of remembrance/wall of honor to uplift and remember victims and survivors of domestic violence this October.

by Ruby Pinto

The goal of this activity is to memorialize victims of domestic & sexual violence and to honor/uplift survivors.

by Ruby Pinto

Directions:

Print out silhouette templates on cardstock or regular paper.

In Honor (4 per page template PDF) —
Gray Scale Silhouette – In Honor Template
Color Version (Brown) Silhouette – In Honor Silhouette
Color Version (Red Clay) Silhouette – In Honor Template

In Remembrance (4 per page template PDF) —
Gray Scale Silhouette — Remembrance Template
Color (Brown) Silhouette — Remembrance Template
Color (Red Clay) Silhouette — Remembrance Template

Cut the templates into individual silhouettes. Individual Jpegs of silhouettes should be available at this Google drive link.

Invite participants to choose a silhouette card and write the name of someone who was lost to domestic/sexual violence or who has survived DV/SV.

Ask them to post the card on a surface of your choice (a wall, large pieces of cardstock etc…)

Once those who participated are done, invite volunteers to share a memory or story about the person they memorialized and/or honored.

by Ruby Pinto

Note: Make sure to have people who have counseling or healing skills available to help people who need to talk during and after this activity.