AC 3.1 Plan a campaign for change
The crime I have chosen to campaign for is domestic violence, as this is a
prevailing and highly unreported crime that needs more attention. This crime is
severely underreported because victims feel trapped in their situation and this
campaign aims to help victims both report the crime and continue to live life
after the crime. This campaign was inspired by the many cases of domestic
violence that have shocked the nation and for victims that have fallen as a
result, with the largest cases including Clare wood and the case of Charlotte
Rooks, which was deemed the worst case of domestic violence the UK has ever
seen. This shows a serious threat to everyday people which needs to be
stopped.
Aims and objectives
My campaign, hands on for change, has three main aims which are vital in the
success of our cause. The first aim is to encourage victims to report domestic
abuse through raising awareness and support for the campaign. This is
important because if more people know about the campaign and have a good
understanding of the crime as well as what to do, then a victim will have more
support around them in family and friends and can feel they have a safe
environment to report the crime and better their situation. Also, a victim may
not be aware that they are a victim, and upon being provided with the
necessary information, may report it. To raise this awareness, we plan to
deliver 10,000 leaflets through doors every 3 months to educate people and to
encourage them to reach out for help. In addition to this, we will use social
media to encourage victims to come forward, with 500 shares of our social
media pages each month. My second aim is to raise money to support women
who are escaping domestic violence and use this to provide temporary
accommodation and use the money to fund therapists to aid the victim in
recovery. I believe this to be very important because if a victim believes they
have somewhere to go to escape the abuse, they are more likely to reach out
for help. By providing recovery methods and therapists, this also means the
victim can start to get their life back on track. We plan to do this by raising
£5000 every two months through the sale of merchandise to fund our
accommodation.
The final campaign aim is to work towards changing the law so that if domestic
abuse is reported, the offender can be detained until the court caser without
contact to the victim, which means the victim is more likely to go through with
, the court case because they won’t be so fearful of the outcomes. To help
achieve this aim, we will create a petition which will be posted on social media
to raise 10,000 signatures to be discussed in parliament.
Target audience
My target audience is female victims of domestic abuse, typically in the age
range of 16-40, as this is when most women experience domestic abuse, with 1
in 4 of all women being a victim at some point in their life. Women are the
most likely group of people to face domestic abuse who may not be able to
reach out for help because they are the most vulnerable and feel more loyalty
to the offender. Women are also typically perceived as weaker by men, which
thus allows the typical offender (a man) to carry out the abuse without fear of
serious consequences, such as the victim fighting back or reporting the crime.
In response to my target audience, I have selected certain campaign methods
which will allow me to target this specific audience. For example, the use of
social media in my campaign will feature petitions and all of our information
on support and the crime itself.
Methods
I will be selling different types of merchandise to raise awareness about the
campaign. This can be done by making t-shirts and hoodies and could be a way
of getting celebrity involvement. I will use a celebrity that has experienced
domestic violence themselves so they can be the face of the ‘movement’ and
encourage people to speak up about their own personal experience. Using a
celebrity with a large platform to speak on this will be very helpful in bringing
attention to the campaign as many people will look up to them. For example, I
will use Rihanna, the pop diva artist, who in 2009, experienced domestic abuse
while in her relationship with Chris Brown. If Rihanna wore the merchandise it
will promote the campaign and bring in supporters. Also, I would create
planned informal events as a method for the campaign. This would allow me to
get women who have experienced domestic violence to watch out for the
signs.
Campaign materials
I would create t-shirts and hoodies as part of merchandise production to help
spread awareness of the campaign. It creates curiosity and encourages people
to educate themselves so they can become involved and spot the signs that a
person is a victim or offender of domestic violence in their own loved ones.