I’ll Stand in the Rain – The Silent Witness Song
The song I’ll Stand in the Rain was written by Leslie Monaghan of the Silent Witness New Brunswick Chapter. The words came to her during a vigil on the steps of the Legislature in Fredericton in a snowstorm. Not very many people attended the vigil, but the Silhouettes stood in the rain and the snow, silent but with purpose.
Audra Raulyn and her two young daughters fled a life of violence at the hands of her ex-partner years before she she started performing I’ll Stand in the Rain. The day she performed the song for the first Silent Witness Nova Scotia presentation in a packed Dartmouth auditorium, she looked out into the audience and saw someone she knew. The RCMP officer who arrived at her call for help years prior was sitting near the front row.
Not long after that performance, Audra and some musical friends who had a connection to domestic violence donated time and studio costs to re-record the song for Nova Scotia – as it was originally recorded for Silent Witness New Brunswick. Audra has performed the song live at presentations all across Nova Scotia.
About Silent Witness Nova Scotia
Between 1990 and 2018, there were 62 women in Nova Scotia who lost their lives to violence at the hands of their intimate partners, forever silencing their voices. Silent Witness Nova Scotia is a group of organizations and individuals working together to raise those voices.
Place a bench that will make a difference
Barb’s Bench Project
For Barb Baillie, Long Lake Park was her special hideaway to retreat from the abuse she endured at home before her partner murdered her in 1990. Today her memory, and those of other women who have been killed through domestic violence, is honoured with every placement of a public “Barb’s Bench.” To find out how you can raise awareness around domestic violence in your community by placing a bench, click the link below.
A provincial action plan to prevent domestic violence
This project was developed with the support of the Nova Scotia Advisory Council on The Status of Women as part of the province’s Standing Together plan to prevent domestic violence.