There is a systematic effort in Pakistan to ensure that women do not learn about their legal rights. Lawmakers have passed groundbreaking legislation to protect Pakistani women in recent years, but legal processes and law enforcement agencies are inaccessible to women who are often afraid to pursue justice because they don’t know the processes or are worried about being harassed by law enforcement agencies and courts. In fact, one in two Pakistani women who experience violence never seek help or tell anyone about these incidents (UNFPA).

Our brief was to use film to educate Pakistani women about the police system and laws and reach all women directly, bypassing male gatekeepers to this knowledge.

Our objective was to expand our reach to rural and urban women in Pakistan so that they have access to the information and resources they need to fearlessly demand justice.

After initial research and interviews with activists and lawyers, we listed topics that Pakistani women have little knowledge about, starting from how to file a police report, divorce laws, domestic violence, sexual harassment, rape, etc. How would we take on these serious (and graphic) topics and break them down so all women, including uneducated women, would be able to understand? And how could we make our films accessible in a country where men have always controlled access to this knowledge? We decided to use animation, a non-threatening and friendly medium that would allow us to present complex processes with greater clarity and concision. To reach rural audiences directly, we devised a mobile cinema that would journey to rural areas and screen the films. We list vetted resources, helplines, shelters, counseling services at the end of each film so women can seek help.

Considering our diverse audience (urban, rural, educated, uneducated women, women with and without access to the internet), we had to get creative in our dissemination strategy. We took a three-pronged approach to reach rural women, urban women, and we wanted to reach them directly. The mobile cinema would visit rural areas, outfitted with a screen on its body to host outdoor screenings, and a smaller screening room inside the truck so that women in more segregated parts of the country can watch the films without being harassed. The films were placed online, on daytime TV (when more women are watching and men don’t have control of the remote control), on the radio, and we amplified efforts with a social media campaign aided by male and female celebrities. We even got primetime TV and radio hosts to discuss the campaign and the issues we were putting forth.

We began by drafting scripts on the issues selected in the ideation phase. Once vetted by legal experts, each film took about four weeks to complete. After testing the films with various groups, we launched the Aagahi campaign on social media. To reach women who don’t have internet access, we partnered with local groups to host grassroots screenings. Our mobile cinema traveled countrywide and we hosted screenings at over 350 locations. We also screened the films at schools, community centers, and festivals. We amplified the campaign through short clips adapted for TV and radio, and invited celebrities to create their own content informing their followers about these laws. TV and radio show hosts spread the campaign, giving it valuable airtime. At the Women’s March in Karachi we held screenings inside the mobile cinema, our chain of awareness becoming part of a movement of relentless action.

We reached 24 million people through the mobile cinema, TV, radio, and online;

The films went viral online and thousands of women shared these videos on social media;

Comments poured in, with women admitting they had no idea these laws existed;

The mobile cinema conducted a nationwide grassroots screening program in 350 locations reaching rural women directly;

Women were actively engaged in the Q&A sessions following the screenings and carefully noted down vetted resources listed at the end of each film;

Provincial governments of the two most populated provinces, Sindh and Punjab, have adopted the films in their educational programs.