Women’s and Girl’s Emergency Centre (WAGEC) has shifted its focus from victims to survivors with a new brand identity and women-led charity art exhibition, designed by For The People

WAGEC is launching its new brand identity with a fundraising art exhibition with 16 of Australia’s leading women illustrators and artists.

The collaboration will raise much needed funds to help the not-for-profit provide additional housing and aid workers to meet demand. The exhibition entitled ‘We’re the Women’ will be held Thursday 3rd October.

It’s been over 40 years since the Redfern based not-for-profit was founded by Jeanne Devine.

Fast forward to now, and whilst there is a greater consciousness and global awareness around women’s rights and equality with the ‘MeToo’ movement, many things have stayed the same or gotten worse with regard to gender violence:

• Domestic violence is the biggest cause of homelessness for women.
• On average, one woman a week is murdered in Australia by a current or former partner.
• In 2015, 279,000 Australians sought help from homelessness services, 60 per cent were women.
• Australian police deal with domestic violence every two minutes.

What WAGEC needed was a fresh approach to communication that could help it keep pace with the rising voices of women.

A new identity that could support it in going against the prevailing view that women in need are powerless victims, when in fact they are empowered survivors.

In its new identity, WAGEC avoids the usual tropes of charity photography and the often generic stock imagery instead focusing on authentic images that embrace women’s strength. The new logo responds to the urgency of their work, a shelter that points women to that critical piece of information in times of need – their contact details.

Importantly, the identity drives a conversation and understanding about helping each other and building a community of assistance. Illustrators and artists generously coming together to build the series of artworks for the organisation, and For The People donating time to create the new brand identity pro bono.

These pieces flip the portrayal of women from ‘victim’ to ‘empowered survivor’ and will be used to communicate WAGEC’s different services and help raise awareness of their work.

“The energy the new brand brings to our organisation and our staff has been palpable, we have felt heard and seen every step of the way,” said WAGEC’s CEO Helen Silvia.

“WAGEC’s enthusiasm for helping women in need is infectious. Tackling the precarious subject of domestic violence and homelessness had to be managed with respect, empathy and understanding. Building a new brand identity that can reach those in need whilst broadening the reach of the organisation was a challenge we were willing to embrace.

“It’s been a truly rewarding experience to see the project unfold, with project lead, Rebecca Cini, the broader FTP team, and the many artistic collaborators all throwing themselves in to help without hesitation,” said For The People’s ECD Jason Little.

“From the moment we first met with Jason and his team we knew this was more than just another generous offer of corporate support, and so it was. For The People took the time during the discovery stage to really understand our organisation on a deep level. They believe in what we do, they share our values and the care and attention they have applied to every part of this project has been done with love and honouring the women and children who will ultimately benefit from this work,” said Silvia.