press releases

Liz Claiborne, Inc. Unveils Public Awareness Campaign
To Help Combat Domestic Violence

Apparel Marketer Commissions Bold Artist Images;
Helps Establish a 24-Hour Crisis Hotline and Fundraising Group

SAN FRANCISCO (September 10, 1992) - In an effort to increase public awareness and action on the crime of domestic violence, Liz Claiborne, Inc. has embarked on a ground-breaking public awareness campaign that will be unveiled on Thursday, September 10 at noon in Union Square, San Francisco. For the campaign, the company has commissioned a series of searing images, created by some of the country's leading visual artists. The campaign, which will appear in English, Spanish, Chinese and Korean, will be displayed on nearly 200 bus shelters and billboards throughout the San Francisco Bay area, through the first week of October, 1992.

"Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury and death to American women, causing more harm than car accidents, muggings and rapes combined," noted Jerome Chazen, chairman of Liz Claiborne, Inc. "By using an innovative medium, we hope to create awareness of this national disgrace and focus community action against domestic violence. Ultimately, we want to reach out to survivors and perpetrators and help stop the war at home."

The project was funded by Liz Claiborne, Inc. as part of Women's Work, its national series of community-based, art projects designed to heighten awareness of -- and encourage positive social change on -- issues of particular concern to women. The Women's Work program seeks to serve as a model for social partnerships between the public and private sectors.

The Public Awareness Campaign

Liz Claiborne commissioned six of America's most innovative artists: Barbara Kruger, Susan Meiselas, and Bay area residents Carrie Mae Weems, Margaret Crane, Jon Winet, and Diane Tani, to create images that capture the physical and emotional anguish of domestic violence. The artists collaborated with survivors -- and perpetrators -- of domestic violence in and around the Bay area, and created images which address the issue from a multi-cultural perspective. The penetrating and unforgettable images, both reach out to women and children in crisis and also direct messages to the men they flee from. The campaign reminds us that violence breeds violence and, for many women, home is a dangerous place. Examples include:

  • Barbara Kruger's haunting image of a woman's face, trapped behind a prison-like fence, that warns: "If you are beaten, If you are hurt, If you are scared, If you need help. GET OUT."
  • A message to men, through Carrie Mae Weems' photo-text image of a perpetrator, with the words: "She had: a broken nose, a displaced jaw, one black eye, three fractured ribs, a mild concussion and a man who said he was sorry!! But sorry didn't do it! You did!!"
  • Photographer Diane Tani's juxtaposition of the trusting, innocent face of a young Asian child with alarming statistics: "91% of abused women say that their children have seen their beatings. 63% of all abusers have seen their mothers abused or were abused as children. They Look, Listen, Learn, and Repeat."
  • Multi-media artists Margaret Crane & Jon Winet's menacing image of a clenched fist that reminds us "Violence At Home is War Against Women."
  • Photojournalist Susan Meiselas' chilling interplay of actual photographs, documents and survivors' quotes, excerpted from police files detailing domestic violence interventions.
  • Liz Claiborne, Inc. has purchased extensive outdoor media space throughout the Bay area with Gannett Outdoor generously contributing numerous additional billboards and transit shelters. Retailers on Union Square, including Macy's California and I. Magnin, will participate in the campaign by distributing Women's Work materials and images from the campaign as well as sponsoring events aimed at raising the public's awareness of domestic violence.
Establishment of 24-Hour San Francisco Domestic Violence Hotline

As part of Liz Claiborne, Inc.'s commitment to leaving something permanent in place after the billboards have run, the company provided a seed grant towards the establishment of the first centralized 24-hour crisis telephone line in the city. The new crisis line will be one source for referrals to emergency shelters, transitional housing, critical counselling, legal assistance and job assistance. All images in the campaign will display the new crisis number, 415-864-4555. Establishment of Local Community Group

Working with the San Francisco Domestic Violence Consortium, Liz Claiborne, Inc. has also helped to establish a multi-disciplinary group of community volunteers whose purpose is to insure that the issue remains central in the community's mind and to provide on-going support as well as assistance in generating public and private funding to the Consortium agencies.

As a result of these efforts, the Consortium has so far received direct assistance and in-kind services from Macy's California, I. Magnin, the Gerbode Foundation, the United Way, Folger & Levin Law Offices and The Women's Foundation.

Women's Work Public Partners

In each Women's Work project, Liz Claiborne, Inc. enlists the support of local "public partners," such as non-profit organizations, city agencies and other community groups, all of whom share the same social concerns that are the focus of the projects themselves. In San Francisco, one of the key public partners is the San Francisco Domestic Violence Consortium, comprised of 13 member agencies and two allied agencies which provided services to 20,000 victims of abuse last year. Established in 1986, the Consortium is the first and a national model of collaboration involving a group of service providers in the field of domestic violence. Other public partners include the City of San Francisco through the Commission on the Status of Women; Marin Abused Women's Services; and the San Francisco Child Abuse Prevention Center.

All together, this project will raise public awareness of the issue, leave in place a system that encourages collaborative fundraising and ultimately reach out to many women and children who need help.

Another Women's Work Project

Another Liz Claiborne, Inc. Women's Work project completed in 1992 is the publication of a book, entitled A Million Moms and Mine, which addresses the needs and concerns of working mothers and their children.

Program Curators/Advisors

To curate and administer the Women's Work program, including all images selected for the domestic violence public awareness campaign, Liz Claiborne, Inc., retained Y CORE, a Chicago-based art advisory firm that develops cause related-marketing campaigns for businesses and corporations that use art and culture to address social issues of national concern. Y CORE advises museums, public art agencies and educational institutions on issues of enlightened patronage and cultural democracy. To manage and develop the Women's Work project in San Francisco, Liz Claiborne, Inc. has retained the services of Roselyne C. Swig Artsource, an art advisory company with a long tradition of providing educational enrichment to private and public institutions through the acquisition and exhibition of fine art. By integrating community activism and activities into the company's agenda, RCS Artsource is committed to strengthening relationships between artists and the public while deepening the understanding of the contribution these artists make to the community. Women's Work Sponsor

Liz Claiborne, Inc., is a designer and marketer of women's clothing -- separates, dresses, shoes and related accessories -- with collections designed specifically for the work and leisure-item needs of the career woman. Liz Claiborne, Inc., also designs sportswear and furnishings for men, and markets fragrances and other items. Founded in 1976, Liz Claiborne, Inc., now employs more than 7,200 people worldwide.