It’s getting to be evening in steinweg; the dark winter clothing of the passers-by blurs with the damming. One group stands out: five women, one man – and all wearing something bright orange. They unpack a folding rule in front of a store window, a spirit level and a sticker the size of a billboard. It is transparent-orange. "Stop violence against women", it says.
The action makes on the "orange day" attention: the international day against violence against women takes place every year on the 25. November instead of. Under the motto "orange the world – stand up for women" human rights organizations worldwide join the campaign. "Every third woman in germany has been affected by violence at least once in her life", says elisabeth westhauser, deputy women’s representative of coburg university. "We are a meeting and learning place, we educate young people so that they can courageously and together shape the future. It is also our duty to draw attention to such grievances."
Helga brachmann from the service club soroptimist international quotes further dramatic figures: every third day a woman is killed by her partner in germany. "Corona acts as a fire accelerant in precarious domestic situations", brachmann explains. She came to steinweg this evening together with soroptimists andrea schiele-eberlein, elisabeth meisinger and gabriele ketteler to put stickers on the first shop window for orange day. The community action is coordinated by the coburg university of applied sciences. David kuffner from the coburg designforum oberfranken CDO. CDO, university and retail have launched this project to make vacant stores more attractive – almost a dozen stores are being used in this way by creative people as an experimental platform. The orange days run until 10. December.Ct