2018 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

ATFD is the oldest feminist association in Tunisia, and seeks equal rights and representation for the women of the country. But 47% of Tunisian women are abused, and 81% of these women never file a complaint because society regards the airing of domestic issues as ‘Ayb’ or ‘Shameful’. When we posted a picture of the naked and battered body of Amal, a victim of physical abuse, on Facebook, it offended more people because it showed nudity instead of because of the beating she had endured. Furthermore, Facebook removed the picture after just one day citing cyber laws banning nudity. We collaborated with ATFD in a bid to expose abuse against women. Our objective was to help women across the country find the courage to share their pictures and stories of abuse, and bring the issue out into the open where it could be addressed.

Creative Execution

We posted a picture of Amal’s naked and bruised body on Facebook to draw attention to the abuse she had endured. But the image offended more people because it showed a woman’s naked body than the fact that she had been beaten. Furthermore, Facebook removed the post in just one day, citing online regulations banning nudity. Determined to end the violence, we collaborated with ATFD, the oldest feminist association in Tunisia, and engaged the entire country through a social initiative called Warri, the Arabic word for ‘Expose’, dedicated to exposing images of these acts of violence. The Warri campaign started in December 2016 and is on-going with presences on Facebook and at its own website, where it continues to invite women to share their stories and images of abuse.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

The cause was immediately championed by human rights activists and bloggers. Well-known actresses and journalists joined our cause, giving it a stronger voice. Prime time radio and TV shows invited many of those celebrities and public figures to explain their points of view, and the story was covered by websites from around the Arab world. In just 28 days, over 2,243,000 people were exposed to ‘Warri’ encouraging hundreds of women to end their shame, to be brave, and to post their pictures of abuse and share their stories. We are proud to announce that Facebook, despite their regulations that ban nudity, republished Amal’s image 3 weeks after they had initially taken the page down. Today ATFD is continuing to support the women of Tunisia through WARRI, changing their shame into acts of pure bravery.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

The Warri campaign that was a direct response to a story of real life abuse faced by women. An image that showed the bruised naked body of a woman became infamous for nudity rather than abuse. The picture was removed by Facebook. Warri appealed to women to share their stories and pictures of abuse to ensure that these images would never be hidden from society. The outpouring of support online become a topic discussed nationally eventually leading to Facebook restoring the original picture. More importantly Warri showed society the abuse women face daily and opened the door to change.

Our research revealed that Facebook policy and many other social media forums cite cyber regulations that ban nudity as a reason to remove such content from their sites, regardless of the reason for posting the content in the first place. But given that 47% of Tunisian women are abused, and that 81% of them are too scared to file a complaint, people who seek to raise awareness of the issue by posting images of the physical abuse that women endure on their bodies clearly do so to promote urgent social change. Our strategy tackled the issue in its native cyber-media space, directly encouraged woman to be brave and share their stories online, and sparked a nation-wide public conversation about the topic.