Digital

What if the world took action to end violence against women?

Creating a Global Online Strategy for UNIFEM’s “Say NO-UNiTE to End Violence Against Women” Campaign

The Challenge: The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) wanted to create a platform for people around the world to show and share their support for ending violence against women. The goal of the “Say NO-UNiTE to End Violence Against Women” campaign was to reach 100,000 actions by International Women’s Day.

Our Approach: Fenton created a multi-lingual Web site (SayNoToViolence.org) that enabled users to add their actions to a total counter, and share photos, video and updates about their ongoing efforts. To drive awareness and participation, we identified a core group of influential bloggers across related topics– including feminism, human rights, religion and parenting — cultivating them as partners and activating the communities they reach.

Progress, Accelerated: By International Women’s Day, the campaign had doubled its goal, reaching over 200,000 actions. The tally climbed with the help of partner-bloggers and online communities that started actions themselves, including Global Voices, Altmuslimah and College Candy. Say NO-UNiTE activities were also covered and linked at popular blogs including Jezebel, God’s Politics, Feministing and Daily Kos.