2019 Glass: The Award for Change

VOICELESS WOMEN

TitleVOICELESS WOMEN
BrandNEW LIVES + 10 NGO'S
Product/ServiceINFORMATIVE CAMPAIGN
Category A01. Glass
Entrant UITCH ISCRATCH Copenhagen, DENMARK
Idea Creation NO SLEEP Copenhagen, DENMARK
Production UITCH ISCRATCH Copenhagen, DENMARK
Credits
Name Company Position
Martin Nørgaard Furze No Sleep Executive Creative Director
Jacob Salling Uitch Iscratch Executive Creative Producer
Kate Kagawa Uitch Iscratch Producer
Martin Nørgaard Furze Uitch Iscratch / No Sleep Director
Oliver Raben Uitch Iscratch Production Manager
Mette Carla Albrechtsen Uitch Iscratch Director
Jacob Møller Art Official Agency DOP Lighting Cameraman
Jens Høll Uitch Iscratch Editor
Andreas Krogh Rasmussen Uitch Iscratch Editor
Hanibal Lang BaconX Color Grading
Simun Mohr Simun Mohr Sound Engineer
Nis Nørgaard Thirty Sounds Good Sound Engineer
Emilia jasmin Freelance Voice Over Talent
Freja-Ulla Krebz Freelance Production Designer
Camilla Ploug No Sleep Creative / Copy
Camilla Ploug No Sleep Creative / Copy
Esben Valløe M€RCY Music Producer
Tim Panduro M€RCY Music Producer
Martin Nørgaard Furze No Sleep Executive Creative Director

Background

Voiceless Women is a film released on November 18th 2018 on the EU International Anti-trafficking day with the aim of igniting a debate about the male sense of entitlement to degrade and objectify female sex workers. Human trafficking is as a lucrative criminal industry and the numbers of girls and women who are forced into sex work is increasing. On the dark web, closed prostitution forums flourish, and men share reviews of sexual encounters with trafficked women- with no legal repercussion. These women have no real chance to speak up about their situation as they are being kept as modern day slaves.

Describe the cultural / social / political climate in your region and the significance of your campaign within this context

On the dark web, closed prostitution forums flourish, and men share reviews of sexual encounters with trafficked women- with no legal repercussion. These women have no real chance to speak up about their situation as they are being kept as modern day slaves. We wanted to be a mouthpiece for these women, trapped in slave like situations the only way anyone could hear them- Through the reviews of their abusers. The campaign was created to put pressure on UN governments to be more aware of the signs of trafficking in it's societies.

Describe the creative idea

We went undercover on the dark web and was admitted into a closed prostitution ring forum, where we extracted hundreds of reviews and the names of its authors, then had actors and real sex workers lip-sync them un-edited in a very explicit film. Exposing both words and usernames of each reviewer for the world to see. The women are depicted as sex workers while lip-syncing to authentic male clients sex-forum reviews of female sex workers. We wanted to be a mouthpiece for these women, trapped in slave like situations the only way anyone could hear them- Through the reviews of their abusers. Voiceless Women's goal is to expose the fact that clients are either unaware of or blatently ignoring that they are essentially engaging in and supporting slavery and contributing to dehumanising women in general.

Describe the strategy

The films monologues are real and taken from the dark web prostitution forums where men specifically can review and share their warnings and ratings of trafficked women. We teamed up with 11 european countries, all united for one common cause: End human trafficking and forced prostitution by spreading the message like never before. The campaign was created to put pressure on UN governments to be more aware of the signs of trafficking in it's societies. In the film the audience get an unfiltered perspective of how the women in the darker part of the sex industry are viewed and what they have to deal with, thereby forcing you to react, either by opinion or direct act.

Describe the execution

Voiceless Women was made pro bono by everyone involved, in order for all 11 European NGO's behind the campaign could use it to create awareness around the topic of sex trafficking all over Europe for free. This is quite a unique thing because a collective of NGO’s rarely work together, let alone join forces for a campaign of this magnitude. The campaign was shared on social media all over Europe as well as collaborative media channels and press releases. And because such a collaboration was able to take place, the message stood much stronger and the reach was that much broader.

Describe the results / impact

Less than two weeks after launch of the campaign the unthinkable happened, anonymous tips started to come in to the NGOs about houses where trafficked women were held as working sex slaves. This led to police raiding two houses and four women have been saved and are now back home and have begun educations, and a new life.