On a bridge full of “love padlocks” we put up 3,500 padlocks representing women trapped in a forced marriage. By scanning the QR code on a lock people donated via their mobile phones on our mobile site and received a number code to open the lock – and to symbolically free a woman. To help spread the word about the victims of forced marriage, several social media functions were included and in just three days more than 570,000 unique visitors talked about Free the Forced and shared pictures of the bridge on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Flickr.

The most important part was to find the right location for the promotion: People had to be receptive to our message, so they would be willing to stop and engage with the difficult problem of forced marriage. When we discovered the “love bridges” it was a logical step to use padlocks to represent the victims of forced marriage and to let people open them to symbolically free victims.

Over the course of the three days, almost all of the blue padlocks had been unlocked.

• During the campaign, approximately 470,000 people visited Hohenzollern Bridge which is located right beside the famous Cathedral of Cologne and the central railway station

• In three days more than 570,000 unique visitors talked about Free the Forced and shared pictures of the bridge on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Flickr

• Activity on the United Nations Association of Germany Facebook page increased by 400%

• The traditional media were also very interested in the campaign. Campaign media reach came to a total of 5.3 million people, in the first three days alone.