Meet Khataben Sameja - a paralegal worker with the nonprofit Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan (KMVS). For the last 22 years, she has been changing patriarchal gender norms across 200 villages in Kutch.
I started my journey with KMVS as a self-help group leader, and later trained as a paralegal. For the last six years, I’ve been working as a full-time paralegal with the organisation. At KMVS, we help women access justice when they face violence at home, by helping them through the legal process or by supporting them and their families to resolve conflicts, as trusted mediators.
Writing about her ideal day on the portal IDR she shares how domestic abuse is generally resolved. The incident is about a father in law beating her daughter in law. Her mistake she accidentally added extra milk in the tea she was preparing for the family.
After discussing the entire matter with the family and the girl, Khataben advices the couple to separate themselves from the rest of the family for some time so that the girl can get some space from her father-in-law.
When situations like these are taken to the police, they can become an added stress for the woman. Often, the issue is easier to resolve through counseling. However, in emergency situations, we use the police’s 181 women’s helpline vans, to reach women quickly and get them out of immediate danger.
Domestic abuse & COVID-19
Domestic abuse or violence is active in all sections of society. With the pandemic, extended lockdown, job cuts, and depressing economy the domestic abuse on women has just proliferated. In 2020, between March 25 and May 31, 1,477 complaints of domestic violence were made by women. “This 68-day period recorded more complaints than those received between March and May in the previous 10 years,” said The Hindu.
Among the 14.3% of victims who sought help, only 7% reached out to relevant authorities — the police, doctors, lawyers, or social service organisations. But more than 90% of the victims sought help only from their immediate family.
Do a search and you will be flooded with more such staggering numbers. And these are reported numbers.
Femina #ActAgainstAbuse campaign
What can brands and publishers like Femina do?
Turn it into a purpose-driven campaign. The virus has suddenly made us realise that there is something called purpose.
According to a company press release: Femina has partnered with UN Women and several NGOs of the country to raise awareness about domestic violence due to cohabitation during the pandemic, with their latest campaign ‘#ActAgainstAbuse’.
To bring the right emotions of domestic violence has roped in songwriter Prasoon Joshi to pen down a poem on the issue #IgnoreNoMore. The brand also roped in some of the most influential stars of the country like Shabana Azmi, Radhika Apte, Sonakshi Sinha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Taapsee Pannu to further emphasise on the severity of the abuse and its prevalence.
From love to sex to abuse - Bollywood is the only solution.
The poem asks one the question – when we will stop reacting to this menace in a passive manner.
The video reminds me that I have seen such ‘Speak Up’ campaigns. Haven’t we already seen videos by leading Bollywood actors enacting poems and asking us to act up? Trust me it is like an overused template-based formula for cause marketing campaigns.
Femina has also created a landing page for the campaign which is a collection of stories it is doing under the subject of domestic abuse. Rather than just being a collection of Femina stories the campaign page could have been a one-point destination about the campaign, details about domestic abuse, etc.
Femina needs to understand that a category on a website and campaign page are not the same.
Meanwhile, the publisher thinks that the campaign has been a success already. The metrics as always are how many views the campaign received in 24 hours.
Within less than 24 hours, the campaign received a phenomenal response and innumerable views, with many reaching out to extend support to this cause, and so many more acknowledging the prevalent menace.
Every time someone says my campaign has been a success on views; please ask what was the media spend.
On social media to keep the campaign buzz alive Femina is asking to take selfies covering eyes or ears, upload it with hashtags, and don’t forget to tag the brand.
Femina time to get a new agency.
What role the UN is playing with this campaign is unclear?
In fact, the UN is already running a campaign for domestic violence called The Shadow Pandemic.
The press release says that: “The Shadow Pandemic public service announcement is a sixty-second film narrated by Academy Award-winning actor Kate Winslet, who has championed many humanitarian causes. The video highlights the alarming upsurge in domestic violence during COVID-19 and delivers a vital message urging people to act to support women if they know or suspect someone is experiencing violence.”
Communication can be done without celebrities enacting.
The campaign page has a section that tells people how can they take action. From donation to subscribing to email updates to sharing it on social media are the various ways. Thankfully selfies are not part of the action program by the UN.
The UN Women India has shared campaign posts from Femina on social media. Other than that I have been unable to find anything worthwhile.
Looking beyond template-based cause campaigns
Act Against Abuse campaign has all the ingredients to be talked about on social media, picked up on news hour debates, and win awards. But how big will be the ground impact? How involved is Femina with its partnering NGOs?
What if Femina thought of something different? Something beyond the template formula. Creating a campaign in multiple languages (beyond Hindi) with women who are breathing domestic violence and trying to solve it daily like Khataben. Obviously they won’t be appealing like Bollywood but they will be real.
Your goal is to make purposeful campaigns, right?
Rather than partnering with 5 NGOs, Femina could have partnered with one. Involved as a problem solver. Impact can’t be done by being at the sides.
Can we also move beyond the whole creative insight of “Speaking Up.” One example could bring the families into the conversation? (The Hindu data could be the starting point) I am sure there would be some more insights if we look into the issue.
Spend time on research and strategy rather than being in the hurry to execute.
So much could have been done if the brand and agency looked beyond the template-based tried and tested solutions.
As of now, I can’t help it but #ActAgainstAbuse is just a topical campaign.