To tackle this terrible trend, the Ministry teamed up with Teletica, the country’s leading TV station and sports broadcaster and Costa Rican Soccer Federation, to make this issue literally as important as the score of a soccer match.

During every soccer game televised by Teletica, a new scoreboard was added right next to the usual match score, with the acronym VCM (Violence Against Women in english).

But instead of displaying a goal count, this board tracks the number of domestic violence reports made through 9-1-1, as the complaints were made in real time right as the game unfolds.

Posts about the Second Scoreboard instantly took over social media, becoming a trending topic in both Twitter and Facebook, and prompting a conversation between the audience and mental health professionals.

The discussion even reached the Costa Rican Congress, when a congresswoman dedicated more than 4 minutes of her parlamentary time to promote the message of the campaign.

Even though the ultimate goal is 0 domestic violence, a reduction of 40% in complaints was reported after the board went up.

We used a negative number to move people towards changing the stadistics. We turned the number into a cause.

Costa Rican soccer players, celebrities, and influencers joined a campaign announcing its launch and asked viewers and fans to help keep this new scoreboard at 0.

The game’s commentators can see the Second Scoreboard and constantly refer to it during the transmission, making the issue even more urgent to the viewers.

Costa Rica’s Ministry of Women’s Affairs reports that, during soccer matches, factors such as heightened tension levels and an increase in alcohol intake can cause domestic violence complaints to spike up by as much as 690%.