Every day 530 Brazilian women are assaulted by close family members, but the number of police reports on these aggressions is still extremely small. Even families and neighbors constantly choose not to listen to this violence. Cepia, a Human Rights NGO, wanted people to start listening and reporting so that women can be saved before the next aggression.

People don’t listen to online videos, especially when they watch them on mobile phones. 85% of Facebook videos are watched with the sound off. That’s why we decided to use this behavior to raise awareness for the issue of domestic violence.

We released Facebook videos that, when watched with the sound off, look like regular family videos. However, when people turned on the sound and started listening to it, they would hear the sound of a violent fight happening nearby. In the end of the video, a message reminds the viewers that, to help these women, they need to start listening and to report any case of violence.

Our videos were released on Cepia’s Facebook page and Instagram account. To make sure the message would reach those who need to listen to it, we sponsored posts in the regions with the highest rates of domestic violence. The videos quickly went viral and were shared by important women's rights activists.

We created 2 different videos. When watched without the sound, one of them shows a baby sleeping quietly and the other one shows a distracted puppy. When people turned the sound on, they could hear a horrible fight happening nearby. The videos were released on Cepia's social networks and were quickly shared, triggering a major debate on domestic violence in Brazil.

Unmute the silence started an important discussion about domestic violence on social networks and even became a topic of debate in specialized channels. In addition to that, 180 (Brazil’s women’s aid helpline) identified a 2% increase in the number of reports when compared to the same period in previous years.