Rashtriya Garima Abhiyan: Dignity March

Source: SABRE Awards, Gold, South Asia, 2020

Downloaded from WARC

Dignity March, a national initiative to end sexual violence against women, raised awareness of the
need to end sexual violence against women in India by creating a march that featured thousands of
survivors and stakeholders supporting the cause.

Dignity March wanted to highlight and sustain the conversation around the issue of sexual
violence against women and children through its march.
Sexual violence against women and children remains among the most pervasive human rights
violations worldwide and is a critical problem that needs urgent attention.
Thousands of survivors and stakeholders travelled 10,000 km in 200 districts of 24 states/union
territories across India, spanning 65 days, with public demonstrations and media interactions
throughout their journey.
By the end of the event, the survivors' movement through Dignity March had reached
approximately 10 million people, including contacting 2,600 service providers and relevant
authorities (police, medical and judiciary), 3,000 lawyers, and 200 policy makers.

Summary
Sexual violence against women and children remains among the most pervasive human rights violations
worldwide and is a critical problem that needs urgent attention. As per the latest government data, most children
and families in India, do not report cases of abuse and exploitation because of stigma, fear, and lack of trust in
the authorities. Social tolerance and lack of awareness also contribute to under-reporting.

To address this, APCO provided pro bono communications support to a national survivors' collective, Rashtriya
Garima Abhiyan (RGA) to launch and execute a nation-wide movement called "Dignity March". Thousands of
survivors and stakeholders travelled 10,000 km in 200 districts of 24 states/union territories across India
spanning 65 days with public demonstrations and media interactions throughout their journey.
By the end of the event, the survivors' movement through Dignity March had reached approximately 10 million
people, including contacting 2,600 service providers and relevant authorities (police, medical and
judiciary), 3,000 lawyers, and 200 policy makers including chief ministers of two states, other
ministers of five states and national leaders. Many state governments have initiated actions including
special police enforcements and fast track courts following the march and our outreach.

Challenges and objectives

Our objectives were not only to highlight but also to sustain the conversation around the issue of sexual violence
against women and children through the Dignity March. We had to ensure that the march received significant
media attention throughout the entire journey across the country, amidst heightened political activities.
Creative strategy
Considering the march travelled across the length and breadth of the country, managing various stakeholder
expectations was a challenge. India is a country with diversity on all fronts. Each state has its own linguistic and
cultural characteristics as reflected in its regional media outlets. The communications and engagement become
even more challenging with a highly sensitive issue like sexual violence against women and children.

APCO devised a targeted media outreach strategy in three phases – kick-off in Mumbai; sustaining
conversations during the journey; and the culmination event in Delhi – to highlight the severity of the issue and
the need of initiatives like Dignity March in changing the societal attitude towards victim shaming. We also
developed customised messaging to highlight state-specific problems on the issue of sexual violence against
women and children.

The flag-off event which saw participation from celebrities and large groups of survivors, was featured in media
to set the tone of the march. A country-wide study on the state of crime against women and children (based on
government data) was used to highlight the magnitude of the problem, with the objective being to establish the
need of a consolidated approach like Dignity March to mobilise the stakeholders in addressing the issue.

To sustain the conversations in the next phase, data points from respective states were provided to local media
and other stakeholders to make the event and issue relevant and geographically topical to their priorities and
focus.

At the culmination event, our strategy was to showcase the support the march garnered throughout its 65-day
journey and present the collective recommendations of the survivors across the country to the government for a
time-bound action.

Creative execution
To raise media awareness on the issue, APCO organised targeted press briefings and one-on-one meetings
between the media and the spokesperson of RGA and survivors of sexual violence a day prior to the kick-off of
the march. The engagement helped to set the tone of the narrative for the event the next day and created the
right noise amongst RGA's target stakeholders. We also set up press conferences in different state capitals to
engage with local media outlets throughout the journey. In addition, we leveraged op-ed placements and media
familiarisation trips to further sustain conversations in media in the weeks leading up to the culmination in Delhi.
Customised messaging to highlight the state-specific problems on the issue of sexual violence against women
and children helped the march achieve media attention and reach out to target stakeholders in every state.

APCO also launched a sustained social media campaign to engage key influencers, youth and the general
public, inviting them to pledge support to bring strong enforcement measures that give justice to victims of sexual
violence and trafficking. We created the campaign website (www.dignitymarch.org) and social media pages
on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, to urge our target audience to come together to support the victims of
sexual violence in the march. We gave the Digital March widespread visibility on social media channels through
regular and live updates of the march and included statistics from different states of the country, as well as
stories of the influencers and participants at the event with written content, videos and GIFs.

Results
The 360 degree communication, multi-channel communication campaign resulted in widespread top-tier
media coverage with more than 500 pieces of coverage, including:

Prime Time show by NDTV, one of the leading TV channels in the country highlighting the issue and
historic march;
Opinion piece by the spokesperson of RGA in leading national daily Hindustan Times;
Special feature on the march and demands of survivors by Hindustan Times and Times of India;
Front page anchor story on the march by leading daily, The Indian Express on the day of the culmination
event;
Special features on the march by top radio stations, including Radio City and Fever 104;
Stories in major newspapers including The Times of India, Hindustan Times, Indian Express, and The
Hindu; and
Coverage of the march with highlights on the plight of survivors on international media, including Reuters,
BBC, New York Time, The Independent, Associated Press, Agence France-Presse (AFP), DW, and EFE.

By the end of the event, the survivors' movement through the Dignity March had reached approximately 10
million people, including contacting 2,600 service providers and relevant authorities (police, medical and
judiciary), 3,000 lawyers, and 200 policy makers including chief ministers of two states, other
ministers of five states and national leaders. Many state governments have initiated actions including
special police enforcements and fast-track courts following the march and our outreach.

With the immense support we successfully gathered through the march, we leveraged the culmination of the
march and inaugurated the 'National Network of Survivors', a direct result of the efforts of the Dignity March
which built the first-ever pan-India network to mobilise and orient more than 25,000 survivors and their family
members across 25 states and 250 districts of India. The march reached out to approximately 1.2 million people
through its social media platforms.

Campaign video

© Copyright The Holmes Report 2020

North America: The Holmes Group, 271 West 47th Street, Suite 23-A, New York, NY 10036, +1 212 333 2300
Europe: The Holmes Group, 54 Porchester Terrace, W2 3TP, United Kingdom, +44 (0)203 238 2048

www.warc.com

All rights reserved including database rights. This electronic file is for the personal use of authorised users based at the subscribing
company's office location. It may not be reproduced, posted on intranets, extranets or the internet, e-mailed, archived or shared electronically
either within the purchaser's organisation or externally without express written permission from Warc.