This past October, Butte was honored to host the Silent Witnesses. The Silent Witnesses were on display at the Butte Plaza Mall. Montana’s Silent Witnesses are brought to us by the Montana Silent Witness Initiative Inc. an organization modeled after the National Silent Witness Initiative, Inc. (NSWI). The NSWI began promoting an end to domestic violence in 1990 to promote hope, help, and healing for the victims and perpetrators of domestic violence. Their vision is to promote successful community-based domestic violence reduction efforts in order to reach zero domestic murders by 2010. The initial program was brought to Montana in 1996 and was established as a non-profit corporation in Montana in 1999.
The Silent Witnesses are life-sized plywood cutouts of a woman’s silhouette in three different poses. Each figure is painted bright red and has a gold shield on her chest which provides information about the woman and the circumstances of her death. Currently there are 48 figures in the display representing those Montana women who were murdered by a domestic partner since 1990. A figure is not added to the display until the case has gone through the court system and/or the perpetrator has never been found or was a suicide during the incident. The display is permanently displayed in Missoula, but can be requested by any organization in Montana for projects addressing domestic violence.
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