In 1990, an ad hoc group of women artists and writers, upset about the growing number of women in Minnesota being murdered by their partners or acquaintances, joined together with several other women's organizations to form Arts Action Against Domestic Violence. These compassionate women felt an urgency to do something that would speak out against the escalating domestic violence in their state. They set out to create something that would commemorate the lives of the 26 women whose lives had been lost in 1990 as a result of domestic violence. After much brainstorming, the women began to design 26 free-standing, life-sized red wooden figures, each one bearing the name of a woman who once lived, worked, had neighbors, friends, family, children--whose life ended violently at the hands of a husband, ex-husband, partner, or acquaintance. A twenty-seventh figure was added to represent those uncounted women whose murders went unsolved or were erroneously ruled accidental. The organizers called the figures the Silent Witnesses (the original 27 witnesses).

The Debut

On February 18, 1991, more than 500 women met at a church across the street from the Minnesota State Capitol to showcase with the newly-constructed Witnesses lined up at the front of the sanctuary. The women formed a silent procession escorting the figures in single file across the street, up the steps, and into the State Capitol Rotunda for public viewing as statements about the tragedy of how their lives ended. The sheer volume of space the figures occupied spoke of their power... and the loss. The Silent Witness Exhibit was officially launched. A press conference highlighted the organizations purpose and goals for eliminating domestic violence murders.

The National Initiative

Inspired by the impact of the Exhibit on many lives, a few of the project supporters came together with Janet Hagberg and Jane Zeller 1994 with the determination to create a larger goal, namely the formation of a national initiative dedicated to the elimination of domestic murders. It was then that a five part process model evolved starting with the creation of Silent Witnesses Exhibits in all 50 states. Within one year, as of September 1995, a total of 800 Silent Witnesses had been created representing women who were killed as a result of domestic violence in seventeen states. By February of 1996 twenty-four states were involved. As of March of 1997 forty-six states had joined the initiative.

Maps of States

The Goal

The goal of the Silent Witness National Initiative has become 0 by 2020, specifically zero domestic murders by the year 2020. As hope was born, the healing began to happen while the organization took form.  Today all 50 states are involved as well as thirty-five countries world-wide.  Since its inception, Silent Witness has been instrumental in the discovery and promotion of successful domestic violence reduction projects.  The March and conference was successfully accomplished in 1997 and in 2003 many of the witnesses gathered for a march in Providence, R.I. The original twenty-seven women (witnesses) whose murders prompted the passion to create the Silent Witness Initiative have prevailed. Their stories have been heard across the country calling for the healing to continue until there are no more domestic murders and domestic violence is eliminated in our homes and communities world-wide.

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