For added entertainment during live football broadcasts, the cameras will often turn to the audience, sometimes focusing on attractive female audience members as a means of keeping everyone’s attention. We decided to take advantage of this tradition in order to bring attention to gender violence.

The idea was to place three battered victims in different parts of the stadium at a specific time. The cameras focused on each of them, and each victim held up a sign with the message “Expel gender violence from home”. It was an extremely effective way to expose the crisis of gender violence while reaching the eyes and hearts of millions of men and women. All footage and material was then circulated through social media, giving our message an even broader impact.

At a certain point in the match, when the cameras would traditionally pull in for close-ups of attractive women, each close-up instead revealed a victim of gender violence. As each victim became the onscreen centerpiece, they would hold up a sign in hopes of encouraging victims and witnesses of gender violence to speak out about their experiences. The visual was displayed on screens inside the stadium as well as the live television feed for millions of viewers.

The video content was also shared through CMD Sports social media channels, and was widely viewed and shared by a massive audience within a couple of hours.

In only a couple of hours after the live broadcast, the event was trending on social media and reaching more people by the minute. Even the Ministry of Women offered their congratulations for bringing much-needed attention to the problem, especially in a country in which most people look the other way.

Through our action, we reached more than 3 million viewers with the live broadcast, and 15 million impressions via social media.

However, more importantly, there was a 25% increase in gender violence reports to authorities. We’re hoping this number continues to grow.