IssueToday, 1 out of 7 children in Lebanon are a victim of sexual abuse, and what’s even more outrageous is that no one dares to talk about it. Abuse often happens within a family and is never reported, as it threatens the family’s reputation and pride.ObjectiveRaise awareness on the topic and encourage victims and witnesses to start reporting the abuse.

Strategy and CreationOur message was simple: Children can be targeted anywhere and anytime. We drove our communication to parents and their children in places they perceive as safe in order to raise awareness on the topic and often shock them in order to drive them to report the abuse.OutcomeBreak the silence through a campaign encouraging victims and witnesses to start reporting abuse.

The goal was to create activities that would show people how easily a child could become a victim of sexual abuse, by creating content that would be easily disseminated via the media. The content had to be newsworthy and create a buzz to have the media talk about an issue that in any other context would be ignored as it is not a comfortable topic to publish.

In public parks, where kids play freely with or without their parents, we placed a man camouflaged in the surrounding settings of the park. The actor, who was told to sit on a bench without moving, was labelled by flyers all around the park and beside him, explaining that 'Predators are Everywhere', even in the safest of places.Kids and moms approach the stunt with curiosity and playfulness. Once they discovered the flyer, and the content was absorbed, mother and child then entered into discussions, so that the parent may explain things in a manner that could be easily understood by the children.

The park stunt was held in the largest public park in Beirut, which is frequently visited by thousands of people daily. Over 1,000 people saw the stunt, and over 360 children and adults interacted directly with the stunt.

After only 35 days of the campaign, Himaya received more than 257 phone calls: half of which called seeking for help and guidance, 22 of them were directly from children between the ages of 12 and 15 years, all victims of sexual abuse.Due to the campaign, the fund-raising Gala Dinner Event raised 25% more donations than the previous year, making it highly successful.

The newsworthy cause was embraced by several major publications, and the media took it upon themselves to publicise the campaign in various original and innovative ways, as the campaign was an inspiration to many. The publicity generated a total value of US$1,053,215 on TV and Print.

We needed to create stunts that would truly shock our audience into realising how easily a child could become a victim of abuse. Our message was simple: children can be targeted anywhere and anytime. We drove our communication to parents and their children in places they perceive as safe in order to raise awareness on the topic and often shock them into action, and push them to report the abuse.

The taboo of discussing family issues to strangers is very relevant in Lebanese society. Add to it the fear of sullying the family reputation or honour, and we have a paralysing combination that allows the sexual abuse to continue without options to stop it. However, there exist associations for victims and people related to this abuse to get help from. Yet people still don’t do enough to stop abuse. This is why Himaya approached us to develop an awareness campaign that would break the taboos and allow victims and witnesses to finally come out of shadows and tell their story.