During lockdown, women victims of domestic violence are held captive in their own home with their abusers – usually a husband, a father or a brother. Many of those women are not aware that support platforms and safe shelters are still operating during this period. Thus, they end up staying in their houses and living in fear as they are threatened by their abusers in case they consider leaving.

Lebanese women’s rights NGO, ABAAD, wanted to shed light on the issue and most importantly help spread their safety helpline “81 78 81 78” among the victims, so they know they can still seek help despite the confinement measures.

Being in lockdown does not mean you should be locked up.

#LockdownNotLockup

#حجر_مش_حجز

The lockdown presented several challenges that our campaign had to mitigate.

First, with everyone confined at home, we had to opt for a communication channel accessible to all; this is why we used the balconies of residential buildings in Beirut for our solidarity event to help not only spread Abaad’s helpline to survivors, but also help scare the abusers. In fact, we used small spaces to deliver big messages of support.

Second, given that women stuck with their abusers lost their privacy, it was more challenging to reach out to them, directly , let alone make them aware of the Helpline which the abuser might use against them. For this reason, we chose to hide our messages in pieces of content that women consume and that their abusers might not necessarily be interested in, so we help them out without putting them in danger.

We asked people to share Abaad’s helpline 81 78 81 78 from their balconies, using white sheets and pieces of cloth they have at home. Hundreds of allies responded through their balconies, and municipalities across Lebanon joined the fight, hanging the number on public and official buildings.

Following the unprecedented buzz we created online, Abaad’s number became the talk of the town. Media outlets covered the story to support our mission, locally, regionally and internationally.

The next day, to help spread the number further, we launched a series of camouflage videos with top influencers and celebrities, including singers, comedians, chefs, make-up artists, journalists and personal trainers, amongst others. We embedded the number in their videos and tutorials so that more and more women can secretly watch the content while confined with their abusers. More influencers proactively created their own videos, which helped us reach even more victims.

Participation across Lebanon:

• +12,000 households

• +30 municipalities

• +100 influencers

Case reporting:

Unprecedented increase in the number of women contacting Abaad to report abuse cases: 280% increase in the number of calls received by ABAAD (from 155 calls in March to 588 in April and beginning May).

CAMPAIGN REACH:

• 693M+ Impressions

• 2M+ Views

• US$2.5M+ Earned media

• 203K+ Engagement

• 70+ Publications in more than 15 countries

• Key regional and international media outlets: The National, Al Jazeera, Middle East Eye, Al Araby UK, BBC, Independent, Paris Match, India Times, TRT World, Ruptly, Wion, Times of Malta, G1, Odyssey, CGTN and Publimetro.

• The campaign was chosen as one of 50 global campaigns awarded by the UN Action Awards in 2020.