THE UNBURIED CASKET
Brand
WOMEN FOR CHANGE
Entrant Agency
EDELMAN SA
Category
Outdoor
Award
Bronze
Festival & Year
Cannes Lions (2026)
Case Study Details
The Unburied Casket is more than a campaign. It is a memorial to the 5,578 women murdered in South Africa in a single year and a call for a nation to confront one of the world's most severe Gender-Based Violence and Femicide crises.
Created by Women For Change in partnership with Edelman Africa, every purple bead on the casket represents a woman whose life mattered. Together with survivors, grieving families, activists and millions of South Africans, this campaign helped build the public pressure that contributed to GBVF being officially classified as a National Disaster in November 2025.
This is the case film that was presented to the Lion Glass jury at the 2026 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, where it was awarded the Silver Glass Lion.
This recognition is not about advertising. It is about ensuring that the stories of thousands of South African women continue to be seen, heard and remembered.
View the stories in The Unburied Casket: https://unburiedcasket.womenforchange.co.za/
Learn more about Women For Change:
https://womenforchange.co.za
#TheUnburiedCasket #WomenForChange #CannesLions #GlassLion #GBVF #Femicide #SouthAfrica #unburythetruth #EndGBVF
Presentation Board
© called for their governmentto
Te, declare GenderBased Violence *
i z
<
ra 2 illi e- “Demonst/Stors in Bath Africa
impressions in
~~ Aft gagtone
and killings a National Disaster
The New York Times
1.1 Million+
petition signatures from
around the world
"South Africa calls Gender
Violence a National Disaster
after protests"
Hog
ey y
ai y «£ h
& ; f
> "This beaded casket in South
Government < Africa is revealing the truth
officially declaring ) about femicide”
GBVF a national
disaster
» PROBLEM: vs @ SOLUTION: *
In just one year, 5,578 women were murdered in South H We knew the government would shut down any protests, we chose the one thing they wouldn't dare stop: a funeralFor the procession, e 20 Leaders’ Summit, and after months of public pressure, the President was
Africa, a 33.8% increase from the year before. Yet every | we built a casket, 33.8% larger than standard, mirroring the 33.8% rise in femicide. Women artisans then adorned it with thousands of | forded to officially declare femici
reckoning, reaching millions worldwide. Ultimately, The Unburied Casket helped change the legal
traditional Zulu beadwork, each purple bead honoring a victim. The casket travelled across the country, turning a single purple bead
framework of a country that can no longer bury its women in silence.
time people took to the streets, their protests were buried
under silenced and inaction.
338%
eg : Set Declare GBVF a National
TRUTH (ms rc 7y : P 1 Disaster in South Africa
EAL AY LLIN YY
aes 1,120,562
a
‘Adorned with thousands of handwoven Zulu beads, the Hundreds of thousands witnessed the casket and joined (Our petition received over 1.1 Million signatures lions showed solidarity online by turning President Cyril Ramaphosa officially declared femicide
‘casket was built 33.8% larger to mirtor the rise in femicide funerals across across the country from across the world. their profile pictures purple. a national disaster on the eve of the G20 Summit.
wiJork imes: Ni AdsiWorld ; #1 TRENDING TOPIC IN
swinitns IEE ons Sues a SO ciltun WIN @ Yo tre@itizen Asse 2,400+ ERENDING TOPI a
pieces of traditional
o caiymat [OL Ss Yemsn Pe: Che: news > (6) 6 702. Greurers { Pinedia coverage H ®
