Zontians in the Zonta Club of Säffle-Åmål decided to make a statement, enhance their visibility in their community and make people aware of what Zonta does during the Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women campaign.

They decided to make a statement to show their community the number of reported assaults on girls and women that were made in 2016.

130 orange shoes, 1 pair of red shoes and 1 pair of yellow rubber boots for a child were displayed by the Zonta Club of Saffle-Amal, District 21. Each pair of shoes represented a reported assault and many pairs were painted orange in order to show the grim statistics.

The yellow rubber boots represented a girl younger than 6 years and the red shoes represented a woman that died as a result of violence.

Visitors reacted in many ways and the most frequently asked question was if the shoes represented numbers throughout Sweden. Club members told visitors that the shoes represented only their community and passerby were speechless.

Many people took their time to see the display and to contemplate the figures of reported assaults. The number of shoes made an impact and many people reacted strongly. Lots of interesting conversations about violence in general and Zonta as an organization took place.

Club members sold homemade bread while sharing information about Zonta and also had orange knitted hats for sale. The club raised over US$600.

Community members told Zontians that they had made a difference that day in their community.