How can M.A.L.I. initiate a powerful conversation about women's rights and sex-based discrimination while one of the world's largest sporting events unfolds? This campaign achieved precisely that by shifting the focus toward the first-ever female referees appointed within the predominantly male-dominated field of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The stage was set on social media (X) where people primarily debated about the matches in real time, to then acknowledge the issues women face within the MENA region and beyond.

Although the MENA region has documented incremental progress, the pace is not fast enough to catch up to the rest of the world. Gender gaps are still prevalent within households and careers, and one in three women within the region have experienced or been at risk of experiencing physical or sexual abuse in their lifetime (Source: Plan International)

Moroccan non-profit organisation that champions women's rights, female education and individual liberties within the wider MENA region, "Mouvement Alternatif pour les Libertés Individuelles" also known as M.A.L.I. wanted to use a global stage with the most number of eyeballs to bring the conversation back. The opportunity presented itself when a new era for women in sport was unleashed by the FIFA World Cup for men's first female referees Stephanie Frappart, Yamashita Yoshimi, and Salima Mukansanga. M.A.L.I ensured that they went beyond football and also acted as "Refs for Change" by drawing attention to the patriarchical system and male domination.

Every time one of the female referees blows the whistle during a World Cup 2022 match, M.A.L.I. tweets in real time to highlight women who have pioneered and succeeded in other male- dominated fields. The goal was to hijack the conversation around football and turn the spotlight towards alarming statistics on the perils that women go through, statistics that would otherwise remain in the shadows.

Although the MENA region has documented incremental progress, the pace is not fast enough to catch up to the rest of the world. Gender gaps are still prevalent within households and careers, and one in three women within the region have experienced or been at risk of experiencing physical or sexual abuse in their lifetime (Source: Plan International). With over a billion people tuning in to the FIFA World Cup online, the time to grab the centerstage for change was most apt for M.A.L.I. then.

The campaign focused on grabbing the attention of young adults irrespective of gender who spent time on social media specially to debate over the football matches in real time. The end goal? Have them ponder over the impact their voice has, to bring change as a collective. M.A.L.I's tweets ignited the spark for dialogue and the people took it forward.

Launched on the occassion of the '16 days of activism against sex-based violence' on December2nd, M.A.L.I tweeted in real time about women's empowerment exactly when the history-making female referees blew their whistles during the game to make the world's biggest stars stop in their tracks or run again to score. This was done by using the visual language of football analytics, which camouflaged important facts about trailblazing women across the world. The tweets however served a larger purpose beyond spreading awareness. It also allowed the audience on Twitter to take part in a healthy social debate about women's rights, sex-based discrimination and served as donation boxes to support the cause. The campaign highlighted another whistle largely unknown and women wish they didn't need: The symbolic "feminist whistle" used to draw attention to themselves in case of an imminent threat from sexual predators. The campaign ran for 3 matches until December18th.

As Morocco advanced in the World Cup, so did this campaign. The tweets under the hashtag #RefsForChange became the most trending topic in Morocco and the 3rd most trending topic within the MENA region, right below #FIFAWorldCup and #Qatar2022. This came in through over 600 live tweets with 7.5 million retweets, shares, and interactions overall. Moreover, the campaign was featured in 120 media outlets in over 75 countries and received over 2.2 million dollars in earned media.