Title	RECLAIM THE STREETS
Brand	THE WOMEN'S EQUALITY PARTY
Product/Service	RECLAIM THE STREETS
Category	E04. Response / Real-Time Activity
Entrant	CHEIL UK London, UNITED KINGDOM
Idea Creation	CHEIL UK London, UNITED KINGDOM
Media Placement	CHEIL UK London, UNITED KINGDOM
PR	CHEIL UK London, UNITED KINGDOM
Production	CHEIL UK London, UNITED KINGDOM

Name	Company	Position
Caitlin Ryan,	Cheil London	Executive Creative Director
Matt Jukes	Cheil London	Creative Director
Mark Fretten	Cheil London	Creative Strategist
Kevin Morosky	Cheil London	Editor/Producer
Cat Davis	Cheil London	Chief Growth Officer, UK & Europe
Sanjai Dave	Cheil London	Animation
Kevin Durley	Cheil London	Technology Director
Camille Wallace	Cheil London	Project management
Jon Buckley	Cheil London	Head of Social
Chun Tung	Cheil London	UX manager

The Campaign

For whatever reason, UK women simply aren’t talking about these crimes. This not only denies them access to practical and emotional support when they need it most, but also leaves many women feeling unsafe and unable to walk without fear on their own streets. It’s against this backdrop that the Women’s Equality Party (WEP) – a new collaborative force in British politics – launched #WEcount, a suite of digital utilities that empower women, giving them the tools they need to allow them to be heard. By bringing together the power of mobile technology and the reach of social media, #WEcount gives women the means to speak out, share their stories and offer support. And ultimately, helps reclaim Britain’s streets for women.

Creative Execution

The Women’s Equality Party launched #WEcount in March 2016 via a short film that issued a rallying cry to women to write the postcode of their attack on their hand and share it with #WEcount. This simple, physical act created an open platform where shared experiences could be discussed. At the same time, we created a Google map and invited women to anonymously mark their experience of sexual assault. Once dropped, the pin changed into an exclamation mark revealing other pins nearby. This demonstrated they were not alone and let them report experiences – many for the first time – quickly, safely and anonymously. The final stage was to reclaim the streets for real; first through an interactive billboard at London’s busiest shopping centre. Then via a series of Blippar markers that turned sites of sexual violence into augmented reality resource where users could explore survivors’ stories & pledge support.

Since #WEcount launched in March 2016, women from all over the UK and beyond have made themselves heard on the #WEcount interactive map – with as many as 130 pins being placed a day - despite the social taboo around sexual violence. Every pin is the beginning of another woman’s story –possibly one that hasn’t been heard before. The exclamation mark & its Blippar-marker have become a symbol of solidarity, empowering more women to speak out against their attackers. On social media, the response was instant and powerful with #WEcount trending within hours. Tackling the issue in this way caught the interest of media everywhere, too, with coverage from The Sun to IT Pro. But more than anything, it proved to women who had experienced sexual violence that they could have a voice and, when they gave their social support to each other, just how strong that voice could become.

Government research revealed that women between 16 and 19 were at the highest risk of being victims of sexual offence and that prevalence rates were higher among females in the “City Living” demographic. This led us to explore where these groups were currently talking. The answer was, overwhelmingly, on social media and via their mobiles, with 95% of 18-25 year olds and 88% of 25-34 years being active mobile social network users (across an average of 4.2 platforms). Our strategy therefore became simple: empower these tech-savvy women to speak out against sexual violence through the digital channels in which they were already most vocal and active, circumventing traditional media, legal and societal channels. This led to an approach that helped them “reclaim the streets” via mobile technology and geo-location, making their single voice a social one and using their digital networks to amplify this via #WEcount.