When a woman suffers in silence, she needs a new voice in the fight against violence.
Story
We recently launched a project called "Voice of Silence" for the NGO Fala Mulher in partnership with SBT, one of the biggest broadcasters in Brazil. The idea uses Brazilian Sign Language as an ally in reporting the violence against women. In other words, it presents an innovative format during the TV network’s schedule that “hacked” the only space where it's possible to communicate directly with hearing-impaired and deaf women: the age rating warning. Just to give you context, in Brazil, all television shows are required by law to show an opening with a Brazilian Sign Language (LIBRAS) Interpreter warning about inappropriate content on the show. So for the first time ever, the initiative transformed the age rating warning into an advertising format with several hidden messages. So in a discreet way, without attracting the attention of the attackers, the "Voice of Silence" project encouraged these victims to report domestic violence through our exclusive channel in sign language (LIBRAS). This way, bringing more than an alert: an exclusive channel for hearing-impaired and deaf victims to report their cases of violence.
Philosophy
Television is the only communication channel with 88% coverage and almost 100% penetration in brazil. As a result virtually the entire population is impacted by the broadcasters' programming, including hearing-impaired and deaf women who suffer domestic violence With this in mind, we "hacked" the only space on TV where it is possible to communicate directly with them: the age rating warning. In Brazil, all television shows are required by law to show an opening with a Brazilian Sign Language interpreter warning about inappropriate content on the show. For the first time ever we transformed the age rating warning into an advertising format with a hidden message. In a discreet way without attracting the attention of the women attackers we encouraged these victims to report domestic violence through our exclusive channel in sign language (LIBRAS).
Problem
Everv hour in brazil a person with a disability reports a case of domestic violence. According to the Brazilian Public Security Forum, the number of aggressions is considerably higher because the lack of accessibility makes reporting even more difficult leaving the victims more vulnerable. Especially for hearing-impaired and deaf women.
Result
4x increase in the number of reports after the campaign. +US$ 112MM worth of "hacked" earned media. +3,3MM media inserts with zero investment in mass communication channels. Other TV channels are replicating the idea on their schedule pretty soon.
