Silent Witness Project Returns to Toledo Library October 7 to Honor Domestic Violence Victims

Daily Dose  |  09/24/2025 9:30 am

Bethany House and the Toledo Library’s Steinem Sisters Collection are honoring victims of domestic violence in October with the return of the Northwest Ohio Silent Witness Project unveiling ceremony and its silhouette exhibits.

“The Silent Witness Project gives our community a powerful way to honor victims of domestic violence and spark meaningful conversations about prevention,” said Jason Kucsma, executive director of the Toledo Lucas County Public Library. “The Toledo Library’s ongoing partnership with Bethany House allows us to share these stories and resources.”

The Northwest Ohio Silent Witness Project unveiling ceremony is set for Tuesday, Oct. 7, from 6 to 8 p.m. in the McMaster Center at Main Library. During the unveiling, 42 life-size wooden silhouettes (also known as Silent Witnesses) will be revealed one by one in a solemn ceremony. Each Silent Witness will be represented by an individual reader, who will share the story of the woman or girl each figure represents.

The free-standing, life-sized silhouettes will be displayed at Main Library, along with additional wooden figures at the Toledo Library’s Holland, Kent, Lagrange, Reynolds Corners, Sanger, South and West Toledo locations, from Oct. 8–30.

“Each silhouette represents a life tragically cut short, and each story reminds us why ending domestic violence must remain a priority,” said Deidra Lashley, executive director of Bethany House. “By bringing these witnesses into public spaces, we hope to inspire awareness, remembrance and action.”

Visit toledolibrary.org/steinemsisterscollection for more information. Programs are subject to change.

The Silent Witness Project began in Minnesota in 1990, hosting community-based exhibits to make visible the deadly impact of domestic violence, educate people about its prevalence and advocate for an end to it. Today, the Silent Witness Project is an international force with displays in all 50 states and 23 countries.

The Northwest Ohio Silent Witness Project exhibit features more than 50 figures and dozens of retired chest plates, each representing a life abruptly and violently ended by an intimate partner or stalker. The local chapter was established in 2001 by the Women’s Center at Bowling Green State University after an alumna, Michelle Rizzi, was murdered by her husband and abandoned in a construction site on campus. The collection was moved to Bethany House in 2017.

Bethany House is a long-term shelter in Northwest Ohio for survivors and their children escaping domestic violence. It is the only Toledo-area domestic violence shelter that offers long-term, apartment-style transitional living. The non-profit also provides the services, tools and resources survivors need to rebuild their lives, all free of charge. Since 1984, Bethany House has served more than 2,000 individuals and provided more than 300,000 nights of safe shelter for victims and their children escaping domestic abuse in our area. Bethany House is a sponsored ministry of the Sisters of St. Francis of Sylvania, Ohio, and a member of Sylvania Franciscan Ministries.

The Steinem Sisters Collection at the Toledo Lucas County Public Library champions women’s historical, cultural and political contributions and strives to provide a welcoming space for women from all walks of life to share their truths. It is composed of “feminist materials,” intersectional works that uphold human and women’s rights and interests in defining and promoting political, economic, personal and social equality of the sexes, races, classes, sexual orientations and genders. The Steinem Sisters Collection has grown to over 900 titles in the ten years since its inception. Regular programming, including book discussion groups and talking circles, aims to highlight the collection and build community.