SEE IT. HEAR IT. SAY IT.
With the alarming frequency the Polish media inform us about the cases when the children were roughly beaten by their parents. According to our research 80 % of parents admit that they hit their children and up to 5 % say that they have beaten them in such a way that it caused an injury. Sometimes the scenario is even more dramatic and as a result of the physical violence it comes to the child’s death. When the tragedy becomes already a fact, it often turns out that many people knew that the child was excessively reprimanded, nevertheless nobody took any emergency measures. Since children are fully dependent on their parents, they feel completely helpless when experiencing violent behaviors from their side. Therefore, in many cases their safety depends on the reaction of the other adults.
Considering domestic violence towards children as calling for the immediate reaction we decided to confront Polish society with this problem. Since the main barrier we have recognized is the lack of social sensitivity to this question, the campaign is aimed at triggering public response and at the same time engaging everyone personally in the child abuse prevention. The campaign targets mainly adults as these who can become an involuntary witnesses of a situation when child is a subject to force and therefore should be encouraged to react. To make the campaign more proactive the message emphasizes the significance of taking actions even if there is only a suspicion that a child is harmed, because only then the suitable institutions are able to step into the action.
The main slogan of the campaign is built around three phrases standing for the basic reactions which, though still too rare among adults, should be always immediately undertaken in case of violence towards children:
SEE IT, although my wounds and bruises are sometimes hard to notice.
HEAR IT, although my cry is sometimes inaudible.
SAY IT, even if it is difficult for you. I wouldn’t manage without your help.
Sobre ti
Ubicación
Project Street Address
Project City
Project Province/State
Project Postal/Zip Code
Project Country
tu idea
Focus of activity
Other
Year the initiative began
2007
Posiciona tu iniciativa en el mosaico de soluciones
Which of these barriers is the primary focus of your work?
Stigma of Abuse
Which of the insights is the primary focus of your work?
Personalize Responsibility
If you believe some other barrier or insight should be included in the mosaic, please describe it and how it would affect the positioning of your initiative in the mosaic
Name Your Project
SEE IT. HEAR IT. SAY IT.
Describe Your Idea
With the alarming frequency the Polish media inform us about the cases when the children were roughly beaten by their parents. According to our research 80 % of parents admit that they hit their children and up to 5 % say that they have beaten them in such a way that it caused an injury. Sometimes the scenario is even more dramatic and as a result of the physical violence it comes to the child’s death. When the tragedy becomes already a fact, it often turns out that many people knew that the child was excessively reprimanded, nevertheless nobody took any emergency measures. Since children are fully dependent on their parents, they feel completely helpless when experiencing violent behaviors from their side. Therefore, in many cases their safety depends on the reaction of the other adults.
Considering domestic violence towards children as calling for the immediate reaction we decided to confront Polish society with this problem. Since the main barrier we have recognized is the lack of social sensitivity to this question, the campaign is aimed at triggering public response and at the same time engaging everyone personally in the child abuse prevention. The campaign targets mainly adults as these who can become an involuntary witnesses of a situation when child is a subject to force and therefore should be encouraged to react. To make the campaign more proactive the message emphasizes the significance of taking actions even if there is only a suspicion that a child is harmed, because only then the suitable institutions are able to step into the action.
The main slogan of the campaign is built around three phrases standing for the basic reactions which, though still too rare among adults, should be always immediately undertaken in case of violence towards children:
SEE IT, although my wounds and bruises are sometimes hard to notice.
HEAR IT, although my cry is sometimes inaudible.
SAY IT, even if it is difficult for you. I wouldn’t manage without your help.
Innovación
Description of Initiative
With the alarming frequency the Polish media inform us about the cases when the children were roughly beaten by their parents. According to our research 80 % of parents admit that they hit their children and up to 5 % say that they have beaten them in such a way that it caused an injury. Sometimes the scenario is even more dramatic and as a result of the physical violence it comes to the child’s death. When the tragedy becomes already a fact, it often turns out that many people knew that the child was excessively reprimanded, nevertheless nobody took any emergency measures. Since children are fully dependent on their parents, they feel completely helpless when experiencing violent behaviors from their side. Therefore, in many cases their safety depends on the reaction of the other adults.
Considering domestic violence towards children as calling for the immediate reaction we decided to confront Polish society with this problem. Since the main barrier we have recognized is the lack of social sensitivity to this question, the campaign is aimed at triggering public response and at the same time engaging everyone personally in the child abuse prevention. The campaign targets mainly adults as these who can become an involuntary witnesses of a situation when child is a subject to force and therefore should be encouraged to react. To make the campaign more proactive the message emphasizes the significance of taking actions even if there is only a suspicion that a child is harmed, because only then the suitable institutions are able to step into the action.
The main slogan of the campaign is built around three phrases standing for the basic reactions which, though still too rare among adults, should be always immediately undertaken in case of violence towards children:
SEE IT, although my wounds and bruises are sometimes hard to notice.
HEAR IT, although my cry is sometimes inaudible.
SAY IT, even if it is difficult for you. I wouldn’t manage without your help.
Innovación
The most distinctive feature of our campaign is the fact that as a first one in Poland it addresses the witnesses of the child violence. Since the problem of domestic violence is the burning question, there were many various campaigns launched on this issue. Nevertheless they always addressed only perpetrators or victims themselves and there was never any light shed on the problem of the witnesses. Therefore, we came to the conclusion that to capture the whole spectrum of this question and to work out the systemic approach to it, we necessarily need to target these very significant actors of the problem.
There is also the important shift of the point where the reaction should be undertaken. Until now people in Poland were used to treat the domestic violence as a private matter of every family and to intervene only when the situation becomes blatantly drastic. Taking into consideration both the scale of the problem and implications which it has for the oppressed child, we encourage people to react even if they have only the suspicion that something wrong is going on in the child surroundings.
It is worth mentioning that in Poland we do not have the mandatory child abuse law report. The more unique thing then is the webpage and the phone number, where everyone can obtain the comprehensive information and support. Keeping in mind that people very often abandon the action because of the lack of guidance, our specially trained volunteers offer a whole range of advices: for these who already made the first step to help the child, those who would like to react but they do not know how to do it and these searching for the competent institutions. People can also share their own experiences on the field of children violence prevention. We believe that by providing such a scope of consultation we create an intervention system which is tailored to the needs of witnesses and therefore it contributes in the most effective way into the child violence problem.
Delivery Model
Our campaign is designed to reach the permanent change in social attitude towards domestic violence and to develop adequate ways of witnesses reactions. To approach the problem in the most holistic way, the campaign operates simultaneously on three fields.
The one which has the key importance in terms of making the problem present in social consciousnesss and in the public discourse are of course media. The main message bases on three pictures of children who are dressed up, but under the disguises there are visible bruises and wounds. In their simplicity these pictures give very clear and striking message that these children are dressed up in order to stash the injuries and that parents who beat their children are very often trying to hide it. The pictures are displayed as billboards in big cities, published in the nation-wide and local magazines and newspapers with the accompanying articles and distributed in the form of leaflets. Moreover, in the TV and the radio there were numerous broadcasts concerning the problem of domestic violence against children.
Since the campaign was intended not only to inform the society about the problem, but also to create an interactive platform where everyone could find the answer for the questions related to the subject, there were the website www.zobacz-uslysz-powiedz.pl and the special anonymous telephone help-line activated.
Moreover, to reach the largest number of adults we established the cooperation with numerous local partners. From the very beginning we have experienced huge response from institutions, non-governmental organizations, psychological and pedagogical counseling centers and private people, who are convinced that it is possible to fight with the physical violence. The local partners who join us, participate in the campaign by organizing meetings regarding the problem and by distributing the visual materials of the campaign, like leaflets and brochures, with the phone numbers of the regional helplines attached.
Key Operational Partnerships
This campaign would not be so powerful and effective without the enormous contribution of the media. Since one of our major goals was to raise the social awareness of the problem, the crucial thing was to put the core message of the campaign in the most visible and vivid way.
On the basis of the non-profit activity DDB Warsaw advertising agency prepared the really eye-catching projects of posters and leaflets which were then displayed throughout Poland and AMS agency, also recognizing the social importance of the problem, offered on pro-bono basis an outdoor advertising area in the biggest polish cities. The very essential part of the whole campaign, which is the internet site “See it. Hear it. Say it”, was non-profitably created by Veneo company. The media patronage was taken by Gazeta Wyborcza, a daily newspaper with the biggest circulation in Poland, together with its internet portal gazeta.pl. Also the other media, both the nation-wide and the local ones, decided to join the campaign by providing their advertising area, publishing articles and broadcasting the problem of abused children.
The campaign attracted also many local partners who are promoting the idea of preventing the child violence in their own environments. Among them there are local authorities and representatives of the municipality, institutions and companies, social help centers, schools, psychological and pedagogical counseling centers, non-governmental organizations and private people.
Impacto
Financial Model
All of the Nobody’s Children Foundation programs are free of charge. The operating costs and the other Foundation’s expenses are covered from various sources: the European Funds, local and governmental subventions, business donations and grants funded by some other foundations and organizations.
What percentage, if any, of the total operating costs does earned income (from products, services, or other fees) represent?
none
How is the initiative financed? Is it financially self-sustainable or profitable? How much do beneficiaries contribute?
At this moment the project is financed basically from two sources. The 65% of the whole campaign was covered from the European Fund and the rest was financed by three companies: the DDB advertising agency, Eurobank and Vatenfall.
Since we consider it absolutely necessary to address also the other actors of the problem we plan to launch soon the new editions of the program, aimed firstly at parents and secondly at health care and social workers. Although the Nobody’s Children Foundation provided essential resources for the first stadium of the campaign, the amount and range of further initiatives will depend on the funds we will manage to gain.
Effectiveness
First of all, we have to keep in mind that although the campaign is geared to increase the responsibility among the whole society, the real beneficiaries of this program are children. But because the final impact of our initiative will be probably visible in a longer perspective, it is reasonable to concentrate on the extent to which our campaign influenced adults, who can improve the children conditions.
We were aware that the most complicated barrier to overcome in the case of domestic violence is the diffusion of responsibility. Knowing how difficult is to address a social issue in a personal way, we are particularly proud of the visual part of the campaign, since it gained high apprecciation as an exceptionally powerful one. Moreover, given that all our previous campaigns had a great visibility, we are convinced that also this one not only became recognizable, but also provoked some positive changes in public opinion.
Hence, taking into consideration the number of calls and e-mails received in our center, as well as the frequency of visits on the campaign website, we can also assume that the message of the campaign gained the high publicity and fulfilled the real social need. We deeply hope that we not only provided the comprehensive information related to the problem but by encouraging people to take urgent actions in case of emergency we contributed to working out the fundamental standards of child abuse protection.
From the very beginning of the campaign we were also receiving the signs of interest from the local organizations and institutions willing to participate in our project. This shows us that our program was recognized as an effective solution to the existing problem of domestic violence. The fact that the campaign is being successfully adapted to local conditions is also the clear evidence of its ability to be replicated. From this really broad and spontaneous response, we can also predict that the campaign will expand further.
How many people have benefited from your program over the last year? Which element of the program proved itself most effective?
It is hard to estimate the number of people who have benefited from the campaign because of two reasons. First of all, the campaign started just in January 2007 and is still in process, what makes it not mature enough to be fully evaluated. Moreover, it is intended to affect the way of thinking and reacting and thus it is hard to measure to which extent it was achieved.
Nevertheless, some indicators of the publicity the campaign gained, could be the number of the calls and e-mails still being received by the volunteers and professionals in our organization’s center. The calculations say about 15-20 calls per day and about approximately the same number of e-mails. The amount of the visits on the campaign’s webpage “See it. Hear it. Say it.” is about 500 thousands per month. These estimations give some impression of the access to the society we have reached until this moment and let us hope to be successful also in the next stages of our campaign.
Similarly the judgment which element of the campaign proved to be the most effective is very hard to do, because all of them contribute to the holistic approach we created, where they play a different, equally necessary roles. Obviously taking into consideration the potential of visual effects, undoubtedly the media campaign was the most powerful. Nevertheless, thinking of the direct, interpersonal contact with people seeking help, certainly the phone helpline and the website play an invaluable role.
Scaling up Strategy
Although during the first stadium of the campaign we concentrated on the social and community dimension of the problem, we observe also a great necessity of investing in parents as the very important actors of this domestic violence issue. Because in the research that we conducted 80% of them declared that they use corporal punishments towards their children, in the time to come we are planning to shift our efforts to the sub-program “Upbringing without violence”. This project is intended to make the parents aware how harmful and damaging the corporal punishments are and what are the ways to cope with the helplessness and impatience, which very often results in enforcing the discipline in an uncontrolled way. The project will include the social campaign, educational publications and launching the special webpage, where parents could gain the knowledge and advice and share their problems with others.
The third step we are planning to make will address the health care and social workers. We decided to target especially doctors as these who have the opportunity to help the abused child by the very early prevention. While performing their job, they have the possibility to recognize the cases of violence and intervene, and therefore there is an urgent need to increase their competences concerning this issue. We would like to provide them with the essential knowledge about the diagnosis of child abuse, so that they will be able to take actions in cases of emergency. However, the main priority of this element of the campaign is to work out and implement the model of cooperation between heath care and social workers. In the end we aim to create a special document which would facilitate the local cooperation between these two professions. This part of the campaign will consist of trainings and supervisions for health and social workers, launching a website and publishing educational papers for them.
Stage of the Initiative
1
Origin of the Initiative
In February 2006 the biggest Polish newspaper published an article under the highly symptomatic title “The whole Poland beats children”. The article first triggered a nationwide public discussion about the domestic violence against children in Poland and then brought about the debate of professionals dealing with this problem. In response to the evident need of taking action on this field, the Nobody’s Children Foundation together with the advertising agency DDB Warsaw decided to create a campaign against the physical abuse of children.
Esta presentación se trata de
Sustenibilidad
How did you hear about this contest and what is your main incentive to participate?
We found the information about the contest on the changemakers.net webpage.
We would like to share our experiences with others, especially those coming from countries where the violence towards children is still tacit and unsolved question and gain the global audience for the activities we perform.
Main Obstacles to Scaling Up
In Poland there still exists very strong barrier in the social awareness concerning the problem of domestic violence. Therefore while running the first stadium of our campaign we were accused of encouraging people to report on their neighbours and friends. This is why addressing the next stage of the campaign to the parents themselves and to teach them how to control is now the issue of the highest importance.
But first and foremost is the question of the lack of the professional social workers and lawyers specialized and trained to work with children. Due to this fact, not only during this campaign, we are struggling inadequacy of qualifications and insufficiency of procedures concerning the child protection service.
Main Financial Challenges
Since within the time to come we are planning to launch two further steps of the campaign we really need focus on fundraising. We are experiencing some obstacles on this field, because Polish society is still reluctant towards actions covering the raising awareness issues considering them pointless and prefers to support the direct help. This poses a serious problem when it comes to make the potential donors interested in our project.
As far as this particular campaign is concerned our financial needs for the moment are related to its two mentioned above stages. The first one, which is aimed at parents, will consists of series of publications and leaflets and the specially created webpage. According to our calculations it will cost us approximately 50.000 Euro. The campaign which is intended to address health care and social workers will include trainings, supervisions, educational publications and creating a special document facilitating the cooperation between doctors and social workers. We estimated the costs of this part of the campaign for 30.000 Euro.
We do not have any specified profile of investor we would be interested in more than in the others.
Main Partnership Challenges
Our priority in the area of partnerships is to invite to the cooperation the other governmental and non-governmental organizations and institution dealing with social help and education of children and their parents. We think that establishing and implementing such a collaboration could result in creating a coalition which would have the real impact on improving children condition.
The question of the equal importance is to maintain already established relationships with our partners. This means not only to cooperate with the other institutions and NGOs in the fields where the alliances are necessary to be more effective, but also to be able to keep the permanent interest of the media.
| Adjunto | Tamaño |
|---|---|
| view of the webpage SEE IT. HEAR IT. SAY IT..jpg | 72.07 KB |
| PANDA.jpg | 52.45 KB |
| INDIANIN.jpg | 58.49 KB |
| MUMIA.jpg | 55.82 KB |
No hay actividad asociada a esta participación