A collaborative campaign has united the voices of some 30 TT CSOs and businesses during the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence (GBV). It is led by child rights civil society organisation (CSO) Createfuturegood.
“I Have the Power to End Gender-Based Violence” is an awareness campaign featuring a collection of six video-based messages with solutions to address and prevent violence among adolescents 13-17 and their caregivers. The campaign takes on intimate partner violence, family life violence, gender-based violence, violence against women and girls and domestic violence. It was designed and developed by children, teens and strategic communication specialists.
By bringing awareness to a young audience, the campaign seeks to ensure they have the tools to prevent violence as they grow and as they start and nurture their own families.
[caption id="attachment_926628" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Behind the scenes on a Createfuturegood video shoot. Children and teens helped script and produce the video ads in the collaborative anti-violence campaign I Have the Power to End Gender Based Violence. -[/caption]
Videos in the campaign teach conflict resolution, self-regulation and de-escalation techniques; give tips on dealing with unwanted sexual advances; and teach the difference between good secrets and bad secrets. One video will be in Spanish, to increase the awareness and prevention of child abuse in the Spanish-speaking community for children aged five-12 and their caregivers. All the videos use age-appropriate language, and it’s hoped that parents and other caregivers will also benefit from the campaign.
"This campaign is very important in that you get the voices of young people offering measures that young people can use to de-escalate violence, as well as tools to solve problems long before they reach adulthood. The aim is to reduce or eliminate the culture of violence, especially family violence, in the future," said Jacquie Burgess of partner organisation the Network of NGOs of TT for the Advancement of Women.
Createfuturegood hopes the project will establish a working alliance of CSOs, interest groups and media partners for continued work to build awareness on human rights issues, and bring about changes in thinking, attitudes and behaviour. The 16 days, observed globally, began on November 25 and runs to December 10; locally the campaign runs a few days longer.
[caption id="attachment_926627" align="alignnone" width="1024"] A still from one of the videos in the collaborative anti-violence campaign I Have the Power to End Gender Based Violence. -[/caption]
"The response by CSOs, interest groups and media on so many levels has been amazing,” said Createfuturegood CEO Nadella Oya. “To know that over 30 organisations agree to promote a unified message on ending violence is a major step to raising awareness."
The monitoring, evaluation and learning aspects of the project are expected to gather data to devise behaviour and attit
