Today, more than ever women are playing a crucial role in Lebanon, from being at the forefront of the revolution, to fighting the pandemic, to saving lives after the August 4th explosion. They have been providing safety to the world around them; however, they still do not feel safe in a patriarchal and violent society. Abaad, a Lebanese NGO, wants to create a safe space for all those women for them to come forward, and empower them to speak up.

#SafetyForSafekeepers (#صانعة_أمان)

In the current context, people in Lebanon face challenges everyday: while some are struggling to bring food to their table, others lost their houses and their beloved ones in the blast. The situation is not easy, and people are dealing with challenges in priority as they see important. And the result, no one treats women’s safety as a priority. Those women are not safe anywhere: in the streets, particularly at night, in their cars, and even in their own homes, where the patriarchy transformed their rooms into big jails with violence in many cases. This is why we brought forward the topic of women’s safety, aiming to help women speak up, reach the NGOs hotline and form a safe space for those who are providing safety yet don’t feel safe anywhere because safe women build a safe country.

In a country that was totally collapsing, women in Lebanon were at the frontline of events protecting those around them. YET, women were not safe themselves in a society where women are still a target of violence. So NGO Abaad wanted to rally public opinion in Lebanon, the general public, media and opinion makers, to ask for Safety of all women in the country.

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

- To INSPIRE the people in Lebanon through the stories of inspirational women

- To ACT and encourage women to call the helpline in an on-ground activation

- To DISRUPT the status quo, open the debate and change the conversation

First through an online film, we told the story of 16 remarkable women, who protect their surroundings. Then we highlighted their journeys in an online photo exhibition by a female photographer. We then opened the debate and co-created a video, with a content creator, tackling campaign idea in a bold and provocative way by depicting the patriarchy in a daring approach. The video hijacked the entire conversation for a week, becoming viral in less than 48 hours. Meanwhile, we triggered our influencers to fuel the debate, which got picked up by local and international media and encouraged women to come forward and speak up. Finally, we made ABAAD’s helpline safely accessible to women at the frontlines, who are providing safety to their families and surroundings but are at risk of harassment, abuse and gender-based violence, through distributing “Camouflage” COVID-19 masks that had the NGO’s helpline smartly hidden on the inside.

SOCIAL IMPACT & REGIONAL SPILLOVER

- Prominent politicians, & lobby groups tweeted, posted, shared their support.

- Local/Regional TV Coverage through news bulletin, and international coverage through big platforms such as CNN International, BBC, France 24, Marie Claire etc.

- Inspired initiatives worldwide, such as the Egyptian movement launched on Twitter #SupportBisant and used our film to speak up.

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

VIEWS & ENGAGEMENT

- 26.1 Million+ organic views

- 230,000 shares

- 262 Million + impressions

- $2 Million + earned media

- 13.3% engagement rate from Instagram views

CASES REPORTING & JUDICIAL ACT

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

A week after the campaign, Lebanon criminalized sexual harassment for the first time. Abaad was one of the NGOs that provided their inputs on the legislation.