#EVERYDAY SEXISM

‘Women’s voices are now louder than

they have been in years. There are

other times they have been loud – like

in the time of the Suffragettes – and I

think we are now seeing the same

level of loudness.’

Dr Heather Savigny, a senior lecturer in

politics and gender at Bournemouth

University,

Everyday Sexism was set up by Laura Bates in 2012 to

collect stories of women experiencing abuse, sexism

and assault. She was hoping to get 100 stories from

friends and family

“Before we could start dealing with the problem,

people needed to realise what was going on and

how bad it still was”

http://www.everydaysexism.com/

For example

12 months after launch, the site had collected over

30,000 entries. [source] So why did it work so well?

Emotional connection

Personal contribution

Mass awareness

Strong call to action

Central hub

Herding

Others as supporters

Partner with other voices

Movement champion

Proof of bright spots

Sharing progress

Outreach

SOME FACTORS BEHIND THE SUCCESS OF

#EVERYDAYSEXISM

EMOTIONAL CONNECTIONIt tapped into a emotional topic that lots of people had personal

experiences of. But the emotions were really varied, from sadness, anger,

humour, bewilderment, surprise. Emotional content helps people engage with a topic

PERSONAL CONTRIBUTIONThe campaign encouraged people to share their own story. There is a

sense of ‘strength in numbers’ and comfort in sharing your story in a

supportive environment

MASS AWARENESSOver a billion people were introduced to the project through Beyonce’s

Chime for Change concert which was televised globally (watch video

here)

And many news stories were written about it. The content and

stories were very shareable and travelled easily throughout the

‘comms system’.

STRONG CALL TO ACTIONA simple call to action and an easily understandable hashtag helped

people to share it. Twitter promoted tweets and promoted trends can

help to kick start this activity on Twitter

#EVERYDAYSEXISM

CENTRAL HUBCollecting all the content and narratives in one place

Clear visibility that other people were getting involved, creating a sense

of momentum and movement. Show how other people are getting

involved to encourage others to follow their behaviour

“When there’s 25,000 other

people saying, ‘Actually, I

agree with that too,’ it’s no

longer possible to shame you

into silence,” she said. “Social

media allows us to stand

behind each other, and it’s

so powerful.” Laura Bates

HERDING

OTHERS AS SUPPORTERSMen are also standing behind the cause. Some are sharing their stories,

but most men are supporting. Allow a way for people other than your

direct audience to participate in the conversation

PARTNER WITH OTHER VOICESLinking voices with other groups and partners in the same movement to increase

the volume of the voices. Look for media partners and other organisations who

can help stand behind the cause with you.

Not only are #everydaysexism collecting stories, they are leading the charge and

calling out sexism in other places. This has lead to Facebook changing it’s polices

around rape and domestic violence content. #everydaysexism has also been

advising The British Transport Police on their Project Guardian campaign to

reduce sexual assault on transport. What are you standing for and against?

MOVEMENT CHAMPION

Now #everyday sexism is sharing ‘brightspot’ stories of people who have stood up

to everyday sexism. This helps other people to model the behaviour and create a

sense of empowerment rather than victimisation. Surface the bright spots to

maintain momentum in the movement

PROOF OF BRIGHTSPOTS PROOF OF BRIGHTSPOTS

“Success stories began to pour in. In their own ways, women started to fight back. One runner, sick of catcalls and wolf whistles, started making her own "honk if you love feminism" T-shirts. A woman tired of cold-callers asking to speak to "the man of the house" started putting them on to her six-year-old son, who'd sing: "I'm sexy and I know it." A football fan wrote to the chairman of his club to ask why the fans were singing such misogynistic chants. And email after email started arriving from women who had found the strength to report harassment, stalking and sexual assault to the police.”

#everyday sexism has written a book to

collate the stories and increase awareness

of the cause

SHARING PROGRESS

Laura Bates is now aiming to

take #everydaysexism into

schools as an outreach project

to help children understand

how they can speak to each

other. Standing up against

sexism is one thing, but need

to teach people HOW to stop

sexism. Real and practical

advice about how to make

the change is very powerful

OUTREACH