Access has just launched a high profile campaign for the Welsh Assembly Government as part of its agency framework agreement for the Central Office of Information.
The project, which seeks to challenge the attitudes of gender inequality in Wales, highlights the role of basic sexism in the spectrum of violence against women.
‘It all adds up’ is targeted at the ‘average men in the street aged 20-40’. The campaign which culminates with the strapline ‘Where does harmless end and abusive begin?’ aims to raise men’s awareness that sexism (i.e. any type of derogatory comments or actions about/towards females) is not acceptable because it is a contributory factor that can lead to violent behaviour.
With the hope being that if sexism is tacked at its root, however innocent it may appear, then we create a society where there is respect and so break the chain of events that could lead to violence.
Gender inequality is proven to be a driver and possible precursor to violence towards women. Research shows that sexism and derogatory attitudes towards women are signs that men consider themselves superior to women and therefore have the right to control them. Control and power have been proved irrefutably to be primary factors that lead to violence towards women.
The campaign, which will run in June and will cover TV, outdoor, pr and online, will focus on generating debate on the issue of gender inequality by challenging the conscious and subconscious attitudes which can lead to the normalisation, acceptance and tolerance of violence toward women.
Simon Landi, managing director of Access comments: “This will be a very challenging but also rewarding project to work on. Essentially we’re looking at changing behaviour which has been instilled through years of upbringing, society and the media, this is very tough - it could take years to change attitudes, but it’s great that the Welsh Assembly Government have acknowledged there is an issue and are tackling it head on. I believe we’ve come up with a great campaign which highlights the problem in a very simple, none preaching or judgemental way and because there will be research conducted pre and post campaign, I'm interested to see what impact this will have.”
