In recent years a number of cases of unacceptable behaviour and abuse in sports and the cultural sector have come to light. That’s no surprise considering the fact that sooner or later 1 in 4 women in the cultural sector and no less than 17% of minors in sport are confronted with psychological violence or unwanted physical or sexual overtures.
No empty words but true stories. The core of the campaign relied on authentic and recognisable testimonials. By getting famous faces in front of the camera we not only highlighted the diverse nature of the issue but the vulnerability and courage the stories conveyed also generated the kind of media attention we were aiming for.
We got off to a flying start: in 4 gripping mini documentaries we launched the personal stories of famous ambassadors from the world of culture and sports. Aagje Van Walleghem, Louise Carton, Marijke Pinoy and Annemone Valke bravely testified about various forms of unacceptable behaviour. They all concluded their testimonial with the familiar ‘back turned’ posture and the message: don’t turn away, call 1712.
This was just the start of the campaign. We asked the entire sector and all Flemish celebrities to get behind the message. The campaign site kijknietweg.be offered a user-friendly manual on how to post your own #kijknietweg videos and share and spread the campaign posters. And did it work? You bet it did! The number of social media videos on the campaign website made that very clear.
Never before did a 1712 campaign generate this level of media exposure. Despite the limited budget and thanks to our unconventional approach, we made all the papers, radio stations, online news sites, the VRT and VTM news broadcasts but magazines such as Dag Allemaal, Story and the sector magazines also devoted editorials to the campaign. #kijknietweg was trending on social media and Flemish celebrities jumped on the bandwagon with videos of their own. In the world of politics the campaign won the support of Flemish minister Wouter Beke. An impressive list of associations, organisations and federations also supported the campaign: from the AB concert hall in Brussels to Sport Vlaanderen, but also the sports department of the municipality of Bonheiden, or the youth service of De Pinte.
