With all that’s going on in Lebanon, the country has become totally unsafe for everyone. While women have been at the forefront of all events, keeping those around them safe, they themselves never felt safe. In fact, studies show that 60% of women in Lebanon were sexually harassed in public spaces. And with no law that criminalizes sexual harassment, this matter will never cease. Women’s rights NGO, Abaad, wanted to pressure lawmakers once and for all to pass the law that they have been working on for years.

#SafetyForSafekeepers (#?????_????)

If the women of Lebanon are today’s safekeepers, they deserve safety.

For that reason, we raised our demands with the voices of those safekeepers and demanded safety for the safekeepers.

In a country that was totally collapsing, safety was never a priority, not even to the women who were at the frontlines. Women have never felt safe mostly because sexual harassment has been on the rise, targeting them, with nothing to stop it. Consequently, Abaad wanted to push the topic of women’s safety within the context of harassment and prioritize it, among other issues that we are facing. Second, sparking this debate aimed to push for a law that criminalizes sexual harassment.

On the occasion of the UN’s 16 days of activism, we launched a campaign with two main objectives:

• To INSPIRE people in Lebanon through the stories of 16 women, and open the debate on sexual harassment without taboos.

• To DISRUPT the status quo through a provocative video that broke the Internet and push for the new law.

We first told the story of 16 remarkable women, who protect their surroundings, yet never feel safe. We did it in an inspiring short film and an online photo exhibition by a famous female photographer. We then opened the debate on women’s safety and co-created a video with a provocative content creator, tackling the campaign idea in a bold way by depicting the patriarchy in a daring approach and requesting safety for all women. The video hijacked the entire conversation for a week, becoming viral in less than 48 hours, and opened the debate on harassment without taboos. Meanwhile, we triggered influencers to fuel the debate, which got picked up by local and international media. Our execution was resonating with women in Lebanon, and around the world, women who never felt safe and needed a law to protect them against sexual harassment.

IMPACT

- Activists shared their support online. Legislators joined the conversation.

- Local/Regional TV Coverage such as CNN International, BBC, France 24, Marie Claire.

- Inspired initiatives worldwide, such as the Egyptian movement launched on Twitter #SupportBisant.

- Online video was translated into French, Kurdish, Farsi, Turkish, Italian, & Swedish.

- Case reporting:

o More than 1000 women reached out with an increase of 250% from the previous month.

o Over 60% of women reported having been sexually harassed in public.

VIEWS & ENGAGEMENT

- 28 Million+ organic views

- 200K shares

- 262 Million + impressions

- $2 Million + earned media

- 13.3% Instagram engagement rate

- 96.3% increase in total followers for the influencer

JUDICIAL ACT

On Dec. 21st, 2020, Lebanon criminalized sexual harassment for the first time. The sexual harassment law finally passed giving a smashing victory to the true Safekeepers of Lebanon.