Every year, around 300,000 women die during childbirth or from unsafe abortions.
But when all that suffering is reduced to a single number, it’s easy to overlook the individual identities and stories behind the figure.
That’s why a new Medecins du Monde (Doctors of the World) campaign gives name to each of the women who die in these tragic and often preventable circumstances — by printing out one of their names every minute.
On International Women’s Day earlier this month, an installation known as the “Machine of Death” was installed on a Paris street. The machine printed a card with the name of a woman who passed away every minute, allowing the public one minute to claim each card before it was lost forever.
Those cards which were picked up by members of the public could be sent to those in power — bringing authorities’ attention to cause of sexual and reproductive rights.
Take a look at this moving video, which showcases the campaign:
The campaign, produced in collaboration with Agency BETC Paris and production company B-Reel, can also be viewed online here.
Is this campaign incredibly effective or do you think it’s just too disturbing?
Top Comments
This is an amazing idea! It makes it much more personal than just a statistic. It's tragic, but it might work.
Let's also have one of those machines in every Australian city printing out the names of women who have died from domestic violence.
What a fantastic idea, redqueen. Seriously. - Grace
That is an excellent idea!!
People, people who have died of domestic violence.
Can we add children (and possibly their ages) too?