During the pandemic lockdown, domestic abuse cases soared by 100% in Lebanon. Women victims of violence and abuse ended up staying in their houses feeling locked up with their abusers. Many of those women were not aware that Women’s rights NGOs, such as Abaad, are still operating and offering safe shelters even during a total lockdown. Abaad wanted to shed light on the issue and reach a large audience of women in Lebanon by spreading their safety hotline “81788178”, so that victims of domestic abuse can still seek help despite the confinement measures.

The world was in a total lockdown and everyone was locked at home. We were trying to figure out all the changes around us and it wasn’t easy, but things were much harder for women victims of domestic abuse who were now locked up with their abusers 24/7. Basically, they were suffering from a total lockdown that we all faced and a lockup with their abuser, without being aware that help still exists. This is when we decided we need to call on all the nation to help reach the widest audience of women and protect them from their abusers, so they all know that a lockdown is not a lock up.

#LockdownNotLockup

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To reach a wider audience who would participate and share the hotline number, we asked a group social influencers and activists to spread the word and raise awareness. Mainly we banked on a smart online activation that involved collaborating with influencers who became our activist spokespersons helped us fuel the conversation. Second, given that women who were stuck with their abusers lost their privacy, it was more challenging to reach out directly to them. So, we had to seek a cultural phenomenon that surfaced during confinement: online tutorials, and through this strategy we reached out to influencers and celebrities who were posting several tutorials and hid our hotline number through those tutorials. To intensify our reach, we disseminated global media pitches amplifying every leg of the campaign, propelling our activation on a global scale.

To show victims of domestic abuse that help was still available during confinement, we launched a nation-wide effort to spread Abaad’s hotline. We asked the entire country to share the number from the one place possible during their confinement: their balconies. After a massive participation in this activation, we wanted to focus more on digital. This is when we used online tutorials. We launched a series of camouflage videos with top influencers and celebrities with large female followings. We embedded the number in their tutorials so that more women can secretly watch the content while confined with their abusers. More influencers proactively created their own videos, which helped us reach more people.

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

• Over 12,000 Households and 30 municipalities joined our activation

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.