Women’s and Girls’ Emergency Centre

Women’s and Girls Emergency Centre (WAGEC) is an organisation who offers shelter and support services to women and children who are at-risk and victims of domestic violence and homelessness. It’s been over 40 years since the Sydney based not-for-profit was founded by Jeanne Devine. Fast forward to now, and whilst there is a greater consciousness and global awareness around women’s rights and equality with the ‘MeToo’ movement, many things have stayed the same or gotten worse with regard to gender violence:

• Domestic violence is the biggest cause of homelessness for women.

• On average, one woman a week is murdered in Australia by a current or former partner.

• In 2015, 279,000 Australians sought help from homelessness services, 60% were women.

• Australian police deal with domestic violence every two minutes.

WAGEC aims to raise awareness around domestic violence leading to homelessness, and provide hope and shelter for those in need. They go goes against the prevailing view that women in need are powerless victims, when in fact they are empowered survivors. The organisation is striking a clear stance around this misunderstood area, harking back to its grassroots beginnings. WAGEC is about women supporting women. The identity responds to the greater community of women and drives a conversation and understanding about supporting each other and building a community of assistance. The new logo responds to the urgency of their work, a shelter that points women to that critical piece of information in times of need – their contact details.

Like any not-for-profit, the ability to communicate visually is key to building awareness and understanding of their services, WAGEC avoids the usual tropes of of charity photography and the often generic stock imagery of shelters – used in order to protect and respect the anonymity of the people who have relied on the services of the shelter, Instead, the organisation is using contemporary illustration as a key aspect of the brand. ‘We’re the Women’ is the art exhibition that celebrates the heart of WAGEC - women supporting women. 16 leading female illustrators from around Australia have each donated a bespoke artwork that celebrates WAGEC’s approach to working with women and families in crisis. Signed and numbered high-quality art prints, as well as small-batch poster prints, are available online at wagec.org.au. These images will also be used as part of the imagery library for the brand across applications.