Advertising and violence against women

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Advertising: friend or a foe in the fight to end violence against women?

Here's one thing that our team at The Voices and Faces Project knows for sure: movement leads to friction. And friction can lead to change. So we bring together activists, artists and creative people of different backgrounds and belief systems. And then we let the debates – and the dialogue – begin. We don't always agree on the ways to end sexual violence and trafficking. And that disagreement is a source of our strength.

Case in point: This summer, members of our project leveraged the power of advertising in two different – and highly effective-ways. Our Voices and Faces Project in-house creative team partnered with Kinetic Media to create "The Ugly Truth," a public service advertising campaign that made over 400 million audience impressions in the fight to end sexual exploitation. In this Crain's Chicago Business Op Ed, the campaign's Group Creative Director, Anne K. Ream, makes an impassioned case for using "more advertising, not less," in the fight to end violence against women.

Meanwhile, Women, Action and Media founder Jaclyn Friedman - a member of our Voices and Faces Project + Victim Rights Law Center created CounterQuo Initiative - approached change in a different way. Jaclyn partnered with the Everyday Sexism Project to call Facebook out on its failure to address misogynist hate speech, using a national advertiser boycott to do so. This is a brilliant example of how bringing pressure to bear in the marketplace can be a tool in the fight to end rape and abuse. Read the New York Times Editorial on one of the most effective advertising boycotts in recent memory. And thanks, Jaclyn, for your outrage and your action.

We love change, in all its forms. To bring "The Ugly Truth" advertising campaign to your region, email us. If you are interested in starting a Women, Action and Media chapter in your region, email WAM.

OK, Go! Help us bring The Stories We Tell, our testimonial writing workshop for survivors, to NYC.
The Stories We Tell, the country's first two-day testimonial writing workshop for survivors, is traveling to Milwaukee, the Quad Cities, Portland, and Calgary (British Columbia) in the coming months. Help us add one more city to that list by supporting the Indie GoGo campaign to bring the workshop to NYC. And thanks to Clare Gagne, Christa Desir and Emily Bergl for spearheading this grassroots effort to offer 20 free scholarships to NYC women.

Keep calm and carry on: Thank you, David Lynch Foundation.
The Voices and Faces Project recently partnered with the David Lynch Foundation to offer a meditation program to interested staff, board and team members. "Our organization does difficult but emotional work– work that makes self care so important," says Aimee Bravo-Noffsinger, who helps manage our social entrepreneurial programs. "We loved working with Carla Brown, Britten Chroman, Lynn Kaplan, and our inspired trainer, Lisa Ashelman, to offer a meditation training that made a real difference for those who took part in it."
Email Cami If you are interested in taking part in a future program.

Christ Desir

Order it, read it and be moved: Fault Line is available now.
An alumna of our Voices and Faces Project Testimonial Writing Workshop, Christa Desir is passionate about the power of words. Fault Line (Simon Pulse), her forthcoming Young Adult novel about rape in a suburban high school, was conceived during our very first Voices and Faces writing workshop. Whip-smart and written in the voice of a teenage boy – yes, she pulls it off!—Fault Line is available now for purchase.

Standing up and speaking out: Bring our lecture series to your community.
Our Voices and Faces Project Speakers Bureau is a national network of rape survivors and advocates who are available to speak publicly about the issue of sexual assault. Our Speakers Bureau participants are available to give presentations and talks for a variety of groups and events, including those at campuses, community centers, places of worship, and law enforcement meetings and others. Find out more about our available lectures and hear what people are saying about our Speakers Bureau.

Still demanding justice: The Women of Atenco, 6 years on.
Two years ago, Voices and Faces Project photographer Patricia Evans and writer Anne K. Ream traveled to Mexico, where they interviewed the Women of Atenco, victims of rape and torture at the hands of Mexican police. This case has been a high-priority for our allies at Amnesty International, and the failure of the Mexican government to hold police accountable has been condemned by members of the United States Congress, the United Nations, and the international human rights community. The willingness of the women to speak truth to power and perpetrators is inspiring, humbling and a reminder of how a small community of activists can challenge and change the world - and yet there has still been no justice.
Join The Voices and Faces Project and the Nobel Women's Initiative in demanding justice for the women of Atenco.
Listen to the WBEZ/Public Radio piece about our Voices and Faces Project work documenting the stories of the women of Atenco.

Recently named one of "America's Best Charities" by the board of directors of Independent Charities of America, our organization is working to change minds, hearts and public policies. But we can't do it without you. Thanks in advance for your generosity.

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