RTL Group | Berlin, 11/28/2023

Awareness Campaign Against Abuse Against Women And Girls

Violence against women and girls often happens behind closed doors. With its new campaign “#DasIstGewalt”, the RTL Group subsidiary “We Are Era” aims to raise awareness and sensitivity for various forms of domestic violence. The campaign launched with diverse campaigns online and offline in Berlin.

Every two minutes, a person becomes a victim of domestic violence in Germany. In more than 71 percent of the cases, women and girls are the victims. Therefore, the “Mesh Collective”, the in-house agency of the RTL Group subsidiary “We Are Era”, launched the awareness campaign “#DasIstGewalt” (ThisIsViolence). It deals with forms of violence that often remain undetected behind closed doors. The campaign was commissioned by the Senate Department for Labor, Social Affairs, Equality, Integration, Diversity and Anti-Discrimination in Berlin.

Last Saturday, on International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, a stand-alone door on Alexanderplatz, Berlin’s central traffic hub, formed the highlight of the campaign. The door symbolized closed rooms in which violence against women and girls often remains undetected. The campaign aimed to sensitize people for various forms of violence and to encourage them to offer help to affected women and girls.

Recognizing early warning signs

“He promises it will never happen again”, “He makes all the decisions for himself and for me as well”, “He always has to know where I am” – these messages aim to clarify various facets of violence against women and girls and facilitate the identification with different fates for those affected. The messages were shown in central locations throughout Berlin in a large-scale campaign last week. Online at www.dasistgewalt.de,  stories and the faces behind them were published in several languages to show the women and girls affected: “You are not alone”. The activities were complemented with posts from large reach content creators on social media.

According to experts, many forms of violence against women and girls are downplayed or go entirely unnoticed. Often, men take control of a household’s finances and force women into economic dependency. A restriction on social contact and verbal violence such as intimidation and verbal abuse are also part of it. The campaign “#DasIstGewalt” aims to help those affected and those in their environment to recognize violence and take advantage of offers of assistance.