Laisha featured a message from No to Violence Against Women (NTVAW) and its gender-based violence helpline to drive awareness of the resource across Israel.
Objective:
Two hundred women were murdered in Israel by their intimate partner during the past decade — five times more than in England, Italy, or France. Today, there are still over 200,000 women living with abusive partner. The coronavirus lockdown exacerbated deep gender divides, as it forced families to live closely together for long periods of time amid increasing financial and social stress. In 2020 alone, 20 women were murdered by their spouses, up from 13 in 2019.
In October 2021, as the second shutdown was beginning, two women were killed within two hours of each other. Another was murdered several days later. All three had been abused before they were murdered and had reported the abuse to the authorities.
The struggle against gender-based violence in Israel faces institutional and social barriers. In the absence of a comprehensive public programs and initiatives, feminist NGOs in Israel have been providing services for women facing gender-based violence for more than three decades.
One such NGO is ''NO to Violence Against Women'' (NTVAW), which helps women through its *6724 helpline. However, NTVAW had two challenges:
NTVAW had three main objectives:
Target Audience:
NTVAW's target audience was not only women at risk in Israel, but Israeli society in general. The organization needed to help women, but also raise awareness of the problem in the country.
Creative Strategy:
NTVAW strategy was to puncture the silence and drive awareness and credibility of its *6724 number by leveraging print media.
The organization partnered with Israel's most popular women's magazine, "Laisha" ("For Women" in Hebrew) in a win-win activation for both parties. NTVAW essentially used the magazine's front cover as a media channel. The nonprofit advertised the helpline on the magazine's front cover, to drive awareness of its resources. The front page prominently featured the *6724 number along with a short CTA encouraging women to call if they feel in danger.
Context:
The campaign set a precedent for Laisha. For the first time in 75 years, the brand used its cover to share a serious and resounding message instead of featuring women.
Overall Campaign Execution:
The covers of women's magazines tend to be very similar and usually focused on superficial topics such as physical appearance or fashion. Using the cover of a magazine to address something as serious as gender violence was unexpected and jarring. The cover included a personal message of encouragement to women: "A message for women who live with an abusive partner, you're not alone."
Mobile Execution:
The magazine was published on the November 21, 2021, and hit newsstands on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
There was no campaign budget. The initiative's only asset was the magazine cover, so the nonprofit counted on earned media to drive awareness across the country.
To help spread the word, Laisha posted the initiative on social media. NTVAW also managed to partner with out-of-home (OOH) agencies that donated billboard space to promote the cover. Various newspapers and other magazines also donated space to promote the program. Lastly, many celebrities that were featured on the cover of Laisha also shared the cover on social media out of solidarity.
