Two out of three women in Germany experience sexual harassment in various forms and dimensions. And the assaults are often trivialized by the perpetrators and those around them. The affected often remain silent, due to shame or fear.

To symbolize the women affected, we used female bronze statues whose breasts are visibly marked - and made them their advocates.

With a cross media campaign in the form of installations, AI and attention-grabbing statements, as well as online films, DOOH and a website, the important message reached people not only in Germany, but worldwide: Sexual Harassment leaves its mark.

And we want to finally put an end to this.

We made the obviously and improperly touched statues the centerpiece of the campaign against sexual harassment. The female bronze statues with the golden-shining breasts became advocates for all women affected by sexual harassment.

The observation that many women are touched on their breasts (among other body parts) "for fun" was portrayed as vividly as possible on site. It was meant to be a wake-up call and trigger a discussion - and it did.

Sexual harassment against women is unfortunately widespread worldwide. According to the German helpline, two out of three women in Germany experience such harassment. A shockingly high figure.

As if such assaults weren't bad enough, they’re all too often trivialized or ridiculed by perpetrators and those around them. And women often remain silent.

These two aspects, the silence and the unwanted touching, unite many women with female bronze statues.

Therefore, we held up a mirror to the perpetrators and those who trivialize touching and objectifying female bodies by prominently placing our message "Sexual harassment leaves its mark" on the groped breasts of the statues. At the same time, we showed that affected women are not alone and can find help at any time.

Our appeal was unequivocal: Let’s no longer trivialize sexual harassment against women. Let’s be more aware, intervene and support those affected. Let’s break the silence together!

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. That's why we set up the installations for two days in April.

We used three statues – “Juliet” in Munich, “Mrs. Rhine” in Berlin and “The Youth” in Bremen – to symbolize the social problem and made them part of the OOH. The message "Sexual harassment leaves its mark” was placed right next to or above the shiny breasts. A QR code gave the statues a voice, allowing them to make an individual appeal directly to all viewers.

As each statue has different dimensions and spatial constraints, we created the installation formats for each statue individually.

As the statue in Berlin is a listed monument and therefore not allowed to be touched, we worked with a peephole and kept the prescribed 3m distance. In Munich and Bremen, we placed the message right behind or next to the statues.

On April 8th we went live and launched an awareness film on TERRE DES FEMMES social media channels and on our campaign website.

The campaign was picked up by journalists, influencers, feminist activists, and others who spread the message further.

It was quickly reported on the national and international media that drew attention to the cause.

With a budget of €0, UNSILENCE THE VIOLENCE had earned media impressions of 198 million within 48 hours, which corresponds to a media equivalent of €6.6 million+. 455 media reports in 18 countries on 5 continents picked up on it.

DOOH generated a sponsored reach of 26 million impressions.

The content was viewed on average 17 times more frequently than usual. The interaction rate was increased by +23%.

Above all, we were able to help those affected to no longer remain silent, but follow the example of the statues and break the silence.