Title	SPEAKUP
Brand	BERATUNGSSTELLE FRAUENNOTRUF MÜNCHEN
Product/Service	BERATUNGSSTELLE FRAUENNOTRUF MÜNCHEN
Category	A01. Glass
Entrant	MENSCH KREATIVAGENTUR Munich, GERMANY
Idea Creation	MENSCH KREATIVAGENTUR Munich, GERMANY
Idea Creation 2	BERATUNGSSTELLE FRAUENNOTRUF MüNCHEN, GERMANY
Media Placement	MENSCH KREATIVAGENTUR Munich, GERMANY
Production	MENSCH KREATIVAGENTUR Munich, GERMANY
Production 2	CHRIS HIRSCHHAEUSER CINEMATOGRAPHY Munich, GERMANY
Post Production	CHRIS HIRSCHHAEUSER CINEMATOGRAPHY Munich, GERMANY

Name	Company	Position
Matthias Voll	MENSCH Kreativagentur	Creative Director Art, Illustration
Christoph Bohlender	MENSCH Kreativagentur	Creative Director Text
Natalia Zollitsch	MENSCH Kreativagentur	Lead Account Manager
Stephan Gsell	MENSCH Kreativagentur	Account Team
Manuel Schnitzenbaumer	MENSCH Kreativagentur	Final Art
Chris Hirschhäuser	Chris Hirschhäuser Photography	DoP
Sevgi Hirschhäuser	Sevgi Hirschhäuser	Editor
Mayaan Sophia Weisstub	-	Illustration
Bastian Götz-Evers	Bastian Götz-Evers FORMART	Digital Artist, Animation
Instant Records	Instant Records Ton & Medienkonzept GmbH	Recording Studio

Why is this work relevant for Glass: The Award for Change

The SPEAKUP movement sparks a change in society. It creates awareness of the enormous true extent of sexual violence in Germany. Women break down their experiences to just a few words accompanied by images illustrating their words above their mouths. That is brutal to watch and to listen to. Because there’s no trivialization. These women break the public’s taboo and talk about sexual violence. They do it bravely strongly and loudly which empowers themselves. That touches people and sparks change in their thinking and behavior. To stop victim blaming, to listen to the affected and to believe them, to show solidarity. And it also encourages others to break their silence, not only affected people but the whole society. Sexual violence affects everyone. So does talking about it.

Background

The Women's Emergency Helpline Munich is not only a helpline but also a counselling centre for people who've experienced sexual violence. They also do educational work to combat patriarchal structures, sexism and resulting sexualised violence. The empowerment of women is at the centre of their work. In talking about their experience in a safe space, women regain their control and power. Opening up to the public about it is the last step in empowering themselves for many affected. Although talking about traumatising experiences may relieve half of them, the other half remains silent for legitimate reasons such as fear of victim blaming or fear of their perpetrators. That's where SPEAKUP gives them a voice, to create awareness for the topic on behalf of all women. Sexual violence can affect anyone. So does talking about it.

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

Germany is a free and enlightened country and also known for that. This makes it even more difficult to point out the true extent of sexual violence because it does not fit in with what people think of Germany. That is why the topic is hushed up. Through all social strata, right up to politics. Authorities are overburdened or not well trained in dealing with affected women. That is why women remain silent. Because they are often not believed when they open up about their experiences of sexual violence. Police officers play down the women's experiences. Too often, the blame is still placed on the women themselves. This is a catastrophe for every woman affected and often triggers further trauma.

Describe the creative idea

In order to give the affected women a voice and to draw attention to the huge extent of sexual violence, we created the SPEAKUP Movement for the Women's Emergency Hotline. In social media videos and posts, women tell their true experiences and thus break the silence. The shocking experiences are accompanied by disturbing illustrations that make the women’s words visible above their mouth. By having the women speak, we are shaking up an entire society! In addition to the social media posts, we developed the sustainable SPEAKUP fashion statement in cooperation with the fashion label "The Colorful Crew". With the fashion, people carry the message to the streets: Speak up about sexual violence and its true extent in our society. On speakupmovement.de we set up a shop where the fashion is available. In addition, the landing page offers an overview of the entire movement.

Describe the strategy

At the heart of the campaign is the opportunity to raise your voice. It doesn't matter whether you are affected or not. Everyone can make a statement against sexual violence and bring the issue to the public. Social media are ideally suited for this. Because they enable publicity for everyone, because they are now used by all age groups. Everyone can contribute to making the SPEAKUP movement bigger with uploading their video. Through their own content. Or by sharing and liking. Through additional PR work we have also reached non-digital target groups. With the SPEAKUP fashion, we spread the topic of sexual violence on the streets. Visible for everyone. And sustainable too, because the fashion is sustainably produced from ecological cotton. This is how we spread the topic further in the public.

Describe the execution

The SPEAKUP movement was spread across social media in 7 main posts and 5 additional explanatory and teaser posts. The campaign period was 1 month in total. The SPEAKUP fashion is still available for purchase and the website and content still online.

Describe the results / impact

Many other affected people took the floor and reported on their experiences. Major German media such as ARD and Süddeutsche Zeitung reported on the SPEAKUP campaign. We generated 3.5 million interactions. Even members of the Bundestag like Kerstin Kassner, who has more than 350,000 followers, took up the movement and spread the issue to the public and even into politics.