CALL GIRLS

Short List
TitleCALL GIRLS
BrandTALITA
Product/ServiceTALITA
Category D07. Corporate Purpose & Social Responsibility
Entrant ÅKESTAM HOLST Stockholm, SWEDEN
Idea Creation ÅKESTAM HOLST Stockholm, SWEDEN
Media Placement ÅKESTAM HOLST Stockholm, SWEDEN
Production FLICKORNA LARSSON Stockholm, SWEDEN
Credits
Name Company Position
Andreas Karlsson Åkestam Holst NoA Art Director
Noah Bramme Åkestam Holst NoA Copywriter
Anna Nollendorfs Åkestam Holst NoA Producer
Magnus Jakobsson Åkestam Holst NoA ECD
Sara Bellafesta Åkestam Holst NoA Designer
Kenna Magnusson Åkestam Holst NoA Designer
Rosanna Hagald Åkestam Holst NoA SoMe
Adam Reuterskiöld Åkestam Holst NoA Copywriter
Daniel Kilgren Flickorna Larsson Sound Production
Sara Wikberg Wikberg & Frisk Public Relations
André Frisk Wikberg & Frisk Public Relations
Daniel Wårdh ACNE Film Director
Josephine Appelqvist Talita Founder
Anna Sander Talita Founder

View Script

Write a short summary of what happens in the radio or audio work.

We launched 0939-1915, a new kind of call girl service where women who have been exploited in the sex trade can make their voices heard. The phone number, which at first seems like a regular call girl-service, lets the caller choose one of several presented names. But every name offers a recording of a woman who shares some of her experiences of living in prostitution. Talitas call girl-service highlights the traumas, coercion, and vulnerability that line the most common path to prostitution. All stories come from women who themselves have participated in Talita's program and now want to make their voices heard. A call costs 1 euro/minute, and all money goes in full to Talita's daily work.

Translation. Provide a full English translation of any audio.

Here is Abigail's story. She is one of the six participating women in this campaign. Some details, like age and nationality, are fingered in order to protect the women’s identities. ABIGAIL: Hey, it’s Abigail. I am one of many women who have been exploited through prostitution, but one of the few who gets their voice heard. This is my story.
 I grew up in a very poor family in the slums of Lagos, Nigeria, where I had to search in the garbage every day to find food for myself and my siblings. One day while I was looking for food, a nicely dressed man came up to me. He asked a lot of questions and seemed so kind. He wondered why I was rooting among the garbage when I could get a job and work for real instead? He said the job was only for those who were brave and dared to look around the world. I could not understand how lucky I was that he had found me. He wondered if I could braid hair and if I was interested in coming with him to a rich country called Sweden, where there were lots of jobs and where I could support myself, my siblings, and my mother by working in a hair salon. I answered yes before I had time to think. He promised to arrange everything practical, like plane tickets and visa, and make sure that I ended up in good hands. But there was no flight. Instead, it was a long journey by car, bus, and finally, an inflatable boat across the Mediterranean. I was close to dying many times. When I came to Sweden, I was immediately forced into prostitution on Malmskillnadsgatan in Stockholm.
 Night after night, Swedish men paid thousands of kronor to human traffickers to sexually exploit me. I especially remember the encounter with a man who I was forced to meet time and time again. He used to burn me with cigarettes and bite me so hard that I started to bleed. I never got a glimpse of the money he paid for the torture. Every morning when I came home from Malmskillnadsgatan, physically and mentally exhausted after all the abuse, I prayed to God to be free. There are many ways into prostitution, not as many out. Thank you for listening. The money for your call will help women out of prostitution and into a new life.

Please tell us how the brand purpose inspired the work

Talita offers support and help to women who have been exploited in prostitution, pornography, or human trafficking for sexual exploitation. They work through prevention, outreach, and support, both in Sweden and abroad. In Sweden, they run two safe houses where they have accommodation for up to six women at a time. Women are able to call them at any time on 24/7 hotline. In short: Talita helps women in need. And the purpose of this campaign was precisely that. By informing the general public about the reverse of prostitution and collecting money to Talitas's everyday work, we turned the problem into a solution. Call girls embodied Talitas brand purpose by simply turning it into eight digits – 09391915.