The Unburied Casket: how a campaign against femicide was made

In one year, 5,578 women were murdered in South Africa. The Unburied Casket turned that number into something nobody could scroll past. Here is how the campaign was built, and what it was like to work on the film that told its story.

The problem

Women For Change, a South African organisation fighting gender-based violence, wanted the government to declare gender-based violence and femicide a National State of Disaster. The difficulty was attention. Femicide figures are reported every year and protests had become routine. People had grown numb to them.

The insight

People might ignore a protest, but nobody ignores a funeral. Funerals are sacred, especially in South Africa, where they carry deep cultural weight. So instead of another march, the campaign held a funeral for every woman killed that year, and refused to bury the casket until something changed.

Designing the casket

Every detail of the casket carries data:

• It was built 33.8% larger than a standard casket, mirroring the 33.8% rise in femicide that year. At about 2.5 metres long, its size alone stops people.
• It is covered in black, white and purple traditional Zulu beadwork.
• It holds 5,578 purple beads, each hand-stitched, one for every woman whose life was taken.
• Inside were images of victims, a QR code linking to their stories, the memorandum of demands and the petition signatures.

The casket was built with a team of South African craftspeople and partners, including woodworkers, a beading collective and a funeral services company, so that it would be treated with the dignity of a real funeral.

The day

On 11 April 2025 the casket was carried in a funeral procession to the Union Buildings in Pretoria, the seat of government, and opened live on national television in front of thousands of protesters. The Deputy Minister for Women signed the memorandum on the day.

The casket stayed unburied. It travelled to the National Dialogue, the National Women’s Shutdown and other events. Landmarks including Table Mountain and the Nelson Mandela Bridge were lit purple, a G20 billboard confronted world leaders, and people across social media turned their profile pictures purple under #UnburyTheTruth.

The results

According to Women For Change and the campaign’s award entries, it reached more than 173 million people, generated more than 890 pieces of media coverage and became the number one trending topic on X in South Africa. More than 150,000 people signed the petition, and within a week the government announced a 90-day intensified response to gender-based violence and femicide.

My part: the case study film

A campaign like this lives twice: once on the street, and again in the film that explains it to juries, press and people around the world who were not there. I worked on the case study film and social content, covering the edit, art direction and motion graphics. The work is credited to me as Social Animator on The One Show 2026 Merit entry.

The challenge was tone. The film had to carry the scale of the numbers without turning victims into statistics, and it had to feel as dignified as the casket itself. That meant restraint: letting the real footage and the beadwork lead, using typography and motion graphics only to make the data land, and giving the quiet moments room to breathe. You can watch the film on the Unburied Casket project page.

Awards

The campaign has won 19 awards so far:

• Cannes Lions 2026: Silver Lion, Glass: The Lion for Change
• Cannes Lions 2026: Bronze Lion, PR
• Dubai Lynx 2026: seven awards (1 Gold, 2 Silver, 4 Bronze), including Gold in Live Advertising & Events
• SABRE Awards Africa 2026: Platinum SABRE, Best in Show
• PRWeek Global Awards 2026: Best Campaign, Africa
• The One Show 2026: Merit, Public Relations for Good
• The Drum Awards for Experiential 2025: Grand Prix
• The Drum Awards: Gold, Social Purpose: Social Justice
• Shorty Impact Awards: Winner, Public Safety and Call to Action
• Gerety Awards 2025: two Bronzes, Communication and Work for Good Cut
• Loeries 2025: Bronze, Live Events
• MAD STARS 2025: Crystal, Outdoor

The campaign was created by Edelman for Women For Change.

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