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SINGAPORE – The Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE), Singapore has been named the recipient of the Global Award for Excellence in Communication for the 3rd Avon Communications Awards: Speaking Out About Violence Against Women.
One of five organizations across the globe to receive this prestigious award this year, AWARE was honored for the social media efforts of the We Can! End All Violence Against Women campaign, a communications movement focusing on ending violence against women and children.
The awards are part of the Avon Speak Out Against Domestic Violence program, which has donated nearly US$58 million globally to end violence against women since its launch in 2004. Each year, organizations across the globe are honored for their exemplary communications campaigns helping to change communities, policies, institutions and behaviors.
For the 2014 awards, non-governmental organizations from India, the United States, Brazil, and Singapore, and a governmental organisation from Australia, were selected as winners for their powerful campaigns.
“Communication and education are critical elements to ignite bystanders into action, and without public awareness and education, bystanders often do not intervene to help in abusive situations,” said Carol Kurzig, Avon Foundation for Women President. “The Avon Communications Award Winners are casting a spotlight on issues that affect one in three women across the globe. We congratulate AWARE on their selection as a winner from a very competitive selection process with so many outstanding entries.”
As part of the International 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence (25 November – 10 December 2013), AWARE, in partnership with Xpointo Media, Blk A Pictures and Snakeweed Studios, launched a social media campaign to spread awareness about the different forms of gender violence.
An innovative Facebook application called Blk2511 let users hear scenes taking place in an apartment building, shedding a light on real stories of gender-based violence that manifest in the home. Additionally, the campaign launched a YouTube video of a staged scene of partner violence, exploring how bystanders would intervene. Garnering over 120,000 hits, the video demonstrated that it is both possible and helpful to step in when one comes across violence.
AWARE will receive a US$10,000 grant from Avon Foundation to fund the continuation of the We Can! campaign and its work on gender violence and social attitudes that tolerate violence.
“We’re delighted and honored to have won this award for We Can!’s 16 Days of Activism campaign,” said Kokila Annamalai, We Can! Campaign Coordinator. “The ‘Blk 2511’ Facebook app gave a voice to stories of gender violence that are often unheard, especially non-physical violence, and the ‘Would you step in?’ video sparked an important public discussion on the importance of bystander intervention in situations of violence. The Avon Global Communications Award and grant will help us continue to challenge the social attitudes that lead to and tolerate violence against women.”
An international panel of judges selected the winning campaigns from more than 870 communications submitted to the Communications X-Change by 303 organisations in 78 countries, ranging from Albania to Nicaragua to Vietnam.
The Communications X-Change is a digital global communications library that enables organizations and advocates throughout the world to find, share, and learn from the best communications material focused on ending violence against women and children. The Communications X-Change was developed and is managed by Futures Without Violence and funded by the Avon Foundation.
“We commend AWARE for their innovative use of communications to prevent and ultimately end violence against women and children,” said Esta Soler, Futures Without Violence President and Founder. “Since the launch of the Communications X-Change, we’ve been continually impressed by the creativity and caliber of the submissions. These campaigns are an inspiration to the violence prevention community across the globe and a catalyst for change.”
The award-winning campaigns in each of the five categories, as well as the finalists’ campaigns, are available on the Avon Foundation website.
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