Our Watch outlines different forms of abuse in ‘There’s no excuse for abuse’ work via Thinkerbell
Our Watch has launched its new campaign ‘There’s No Excuse for Abuse’ via Melbourne agency Thinkerbell.
Non-physical forms of abuse against women are both common and harmful. Yet awareness of the prevalence of these abusive behaviours is low.
This campaign from Our Watch sets out to make people aware of the different forms abuse can take and remind people that there is no excuse for abuse – no matter what its form.
Violence against women is not restricted to physical violence. There are many different forms of violence against women including financial abuse (e.g. forcing a woman to quit her job), social abuse (e.g. being excessively possessive or controlling of a woman), emotional and/or psychological abuse (e.g. verbal put downs and manipulation), technological abuse (e.g. accessing a woman’s online accounts
without her permission), spiritual abuse (e.g. using a woman’s spiritual beliefs to manipulate her) and stalking.
This is the only national mass-awareness non-physical violence campaign in Australia, and the challenge for this campaign was to raise awareness that these forms of abuse exist, and that there is no excuse for this type of behaviour.
Says Margie Reid, managing partner, Thinkerbell: “Our aim was simple – to educate people that whatever excuse they conjure up to justify the abuse of women, it’s just not OK. We hope the
campaign will help people understand all of the abusive behaviours people may dismiss for various reasons are not ok and will actually do harm if left unchecked.”
Says Jim Ingram, co-founder, Thinkerbell: “We have chosen several powerful stories that help illustrate that there is no excuse for abuse. We’ve attempted to drive the point home by ensuring that not only the words spoken when trying to make excuses, but the accompanying supers are muted and blurred respectively. This should make for an interesting user experience when viewing the ads in social media environments.”
Says Jilly Charlwood, director, marketing and communications, Our Watch: “We are immensely proud of the No Excuse for Abuse
campaign and believe it will make a powerful contribution to raising awareness of non-physical abuse.
“Our Watch was created to drive nation-wide change in the culture, behaviours and attitudes that lead to violence against women and their children. Increasing recognition of what constitutes violence is crucial to ensuring that the community challenges all forms of violence, both physical and non-physical.”
The campaign will exist predominantly within social and digital channels. The campaign ‘No Excuse For Abuse’ will be supplemented with social amplification.
Client: Our Watch
Creative agency: Thinkerbell
Media agency: Carat