2014 Winners & Shortlists

Brief Explanation

The main challenge was to create a strong visual that strikes a balance between being simple to comprehend and controversial enough to stir conversation about the topic. The main objective of the poster was to make the audience uncomfortable looking at it, forcing them to recognise the issue as a public problem rather than a social taboo that is usually dealt with in secrecy and negligence.

The Brief

The UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women recently published a report showing that 99.3% of Egyptian women have experienced some form of sexual harassment. Despite the shocking statistics, talking about sexual harassment in Egypt is considered a cultural taboo. Placing blame on the victim is all too common, when trying to complain to family or authorities, they are blamed because of the way they dress and act. The Dostour Party decided to arrange a series of workshops to tackle the issue, aiming to create a compelling visual that would force viewers to confront a grim reality, bring the subject into focus and begin a discussion about the subject.

How the final design was conceived

Inspired from an interview with a victim who said that one of the most memorable emotions for her during the attack was a feeling of suffocation or choking when a harasser was trying to touch her, not being able to scream or cry out for help. The visual is a direct interpretation of these words, with the harassers depicted as shadowy hands framing, almost trying to define a woman's body, while a closer look would show that they are more accurately choking and limiting it, containing it to what their own definitions deem important.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

Turnout to the workshops was huge. The visual became a viral hit in social media, hundreds of blog posts mentioned it and stirring a big discussions about the topic between those who support the cause and others who tend to blame the victims. The visual also got borrowed by multiple NGO's dealing with the topic, including the Anti Harassment Movement (NGO) who took their campaign and the visual regionally. With events touring the country from the Mediterranean coast to Aswan in the south. Look for the poster on google images and read the comments on social media.