A monument dedicated to Belgian victims of femicide was unveiled on Saturday afternoon in the Brussels municipality of Saint-Gilles.
The monument lists the names of women, along with the date they were murdered and the place they lived. The initiative was taken by Walloon writer Céline Delbecq and is located on Marie Janson Square, named after Belgium’s first female senator. Similar monuments have previously been inaugurated in Quaregnon and Tournai.
The idea for these monuments originated during the COVID-19 pandemic when a performance by Céline Delbecq was cancelled due to theatre closures. The performance, titled “Cinglée,” focused on a resistance fighter who gradually goes insane as the world around her refuses to acknowledge or address the issues she raises, and it ended with the unveiling of a monument for 100 women murdered in Belgium.
In 2021, the first monument with the names of 100 murdered women was unveiled in Tournai. It soon became clear that a second monument was necessary as the list of victims continued to grow. After the second monument was unveiled in Quaregnon in 2023, the third was inaugurated on Saturday in Saint-Gilles.
The monument has a sawtooth shape, giving the impression that a part is missing. Delbecq explains this is intentional. “The information about the women comes from the blog Stop Feminicide, which keeps a list of victims, as well as from the press and legal authorities. However, although the term ‘femicide’ was officially defined in Belgian law in October last year, there is still no official count. Not all victims are reported in the media. The unfinished form of the monument signifies that the list is incomplete,” she says.
