Every hour in Brazil a person with a disability reports a case of domestic violence.

According to the Brazilian Public Security Forum, the number of aggressions is considerably higher because the lack of accessibility make reporting even more difficult leaving the victims more vulnerable. Especially for hearing impaired and deaf women.

Hearing impairment and deafness is not just about the condition of not hearing. It's also about not being heard in a world that is not ready to communicate with you.

Many hearing-impaired and deaf women are unable to communicate and the incident is recorded as a report of an incapable person. They are not incapable, in fact, it is the world that is not prepared to understand them.

The Voice of Silence Project brings innovation by giving silent women a voice to change the harsh reality of those who need special assistance to break the cycle of violence.

Every hour in Brazil a person with a disability reports a case of domestic violence. According to the Brazilian Public Security Forum, the number of aggressions is considerably higher. Especially for hearing impaired and deaf women.

That means one thing: violence against women is a national problem, but the victims have specific needs. That's why we needed a media format that had national coverage and - at the same time - was capable of speaking to a specific audience.

For this, we picked the only space on TV where it is possible to communicate directly with hearing-impaired and deaf women: the age rating warning. In our country, all television shows are required by law to show an opening with a Brazilian Sign Language (LIBRAS) Interpreter warning about inappropriate content on the show. In this direct marketing idea, we took the hearing-impaired and deaf victims to an exclusive reporting channel.

In Brazil, television is the only communication channel with 88% coverage and almost 100% penetration. As a result, virtually the entire population is impacted by the broadcasters’ programming, including hearing-impaired and deaf women who suffer domestic violence.

Violence against women is a national problem, but the victims have specific needs. That's why we needed a media format that had national coverage and was capable of speaking to a specific audience. For this, we picked the only space on TV where it is possible to communicate directly with hearing-impaired and deaf women: the age rating warning.

In our country, all television shows are required by law to show an opening with a Brazilian Sign Language (LIBRAS) Interpreter warning about inappropriate content on the show. In this direct marketing idea that happens on television, we took the hearing-impaired and deaf victims of domestic to an exclusive reporting channel.

In Brazil, NGOs don’t have enough financial resources so the communication budget isn't a priority. The challenge was to create an idea with low investment and high reverberation potential.

With only US$1,600 spent with the Sign Language interpreter, we used the recording structure of the channel's mandatory age rated warning to record our hidden messages to help victims report domestic violence.

The Voice of Silence is not an outreach idea, it’s more of a direct marketing idea that happens on television. In this case, we had SBT, one of the biggest broadcasters in Brazil, by our side.

From 9/24/2023 until now, we are on air in 14 programs a day, 7 days a week, the action only impacts a specific audience: hearing-impaired and deaf women. Currently, the project is part of SBT's fixed programming schedule, however, we have made the age rating warning format available for other broadcasters to use.

The campaign is on air every day, 24/7, and is already part of the broadcaster's definitive schedule, which has also made all the campaign materials available so that the initiative could be implemented by other TV channels.

Voice of Silence project had an amazing repercussion all over Brazil. Check below a few numbers:

After the campaign, the number of violence reports increased by 4 times.

More than 3.300 media inserts in mass communication channels with zero investment.

More than 112 million dollar’s worth of "hacked" earned media.

Besides all of that, the campaign featured the most important mass media channels in Brazil. For example: “An innovative campaign that reduced the difficulty in reporting violence for deaf women.” Mônica Bergamo – Folha de S.Paulo.