Each of the 38 pairs of shoes represents a woman killed this year in Australia due to family and domestic violence.

The shoes were photographed at locations from Old Parliament House to the National Library to a Canberra bus stop.

They are part of the Zonta Club of Canberra Breakfast's Zonta Says No campaign as part of the International 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence.

The global campaign started on Thursday, the UN Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and in Canberra culminates with the ringing of the Canberra Rotary Peace Bell in Canberra's Nara Park on International Human Rights Day, December 10.

The campaign will conclude on December 10 with a solemn ceremony starting at 6.30am in Nara Park, at which participants will strike the Canberra Rotary Peace Bell once for each woman killed in Australia in the last 12 months.

Local landmarks have also been lit up in the campaign theme colour of orange for one day this, week including Old Parliament House and the National Carillon.

Others such as the Malcolm Fraser Bridge on the Majura Parkway and The Canberra Times Fountain in Civic have been turned orange for the entire 16 days.

Zonta Club of Canberra Breakfast president Christine Magner said Zonta, a women's service organisation, drew attention to domestic violence each year through its annual Zonta Says No campaign.

"Thirty-eight women and girls have died so far in 2021 due to domestic and family violence," she said.

"While this is the lowest - so far - since numbers were first recorded in 2012, it might not tell the full story. And from our work in delivering home starter packs to women rebuilding after violence, we know COVID has exacerbated the shortage of affordable housing options for women."

As part of the campaign, Libraries ACT is presenting an author talk with Heidi Lemon, author of The First Time He Hit Her, an unflinching look at the death of Tara Costigan, the much-loved Canberra mother killed by her ex-partner Marcus Rappel in 2015.

The online discussion will be moderated by ZCCB vice-president, Serina Bird.

It will be held at 12.30pm on Tuesday via the Libraries ACT Facebook page.

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