6 women in 10 are victims of domestic violence in Morocco. It remains a taboo subject and is overlooked. This was brought to light when Morocco’s own state TV channel, 2M, aired (November 2016) a show on beauty tips that taught women how to cover up signs of abuse. It basically promoted the normalisation of domestic violence. The show sparked outrage across the world.

When the bar has been set so low, where do you start?

In response to the 2M show, ENTI.MA (Morocco’s most influential lifestyle and beauty portal) created an integrated campaign. Print was a component to this campaign, because beauty and lifestyle magazines are the most consumed media in the country. We created a fake brand makeup remover. Just like a beauty ad with a product sample, we showed a model’s face covered in makeup, inviting readers to test the makeup remover. Once a reader wiped off the makeup, the model’s marks of domestic violence on her face we revealed, as well as the message. A simple innovation on a traditional medium against the normalisation of domestic violence. We also created online beauty-tip videos that, at first, seemed like real make up removing tips, but then revealed the model’s marks of abuse.

https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2017/01/205230/beauty-against-domestic-violence/

https://www.huffpostmaghreb.com/2017/03/10/faux-tuto-dubai-violence_n_15277476.html

https://www.grazia.fr/news-et-societe/news/un-faux-tuto-beaute-pour-denoncer-les-violences-faites-aux-femmes-840806

Thanks to our response, the campaign made an immediate impact. The international press – those who had reported the previous 2M debacle – also reported on the ENTI.MA campaign. Miss World New York 2015 (a Moroccan) has made herself an advocate for the cause. Even the Minister of Women’s and Family rights in Morocco made herself an advocate for this movement. A movement that kept gaining momentum in the country. On February 14 2018, Morocco’s parliament, after months of heated debate, adopted a law to combat violence against women.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-5392055/Morocco-adopts-law-violence-against-women.html

Women in Morocco now have more than just a platform from which to be heard, spurred on by women all around the world commenting on the ENTI.MA campaign, they also have rights, backed by a law.