UNMUTED Campaign to Stop Human Rights Abuses of Women

Summary

In 2024, UNMUTED Inc. committed to launch a campaign using the documentary series UNMUTED to raise awareness, change attitudes, and inspire action to combat violence against women and girls, driving investments that will directly impact nearly 1,000 people – more than 700 women and girls – via frontline organizations by mid-2025. The campaign will address the global issues of child marriage, female genital mutilation/cutting, and acid attacks; these forms of violence happen around the world, including in the U.S., and cause significant harm both to societies and economies. Through grassroots, non-theatrical screenings, communications campaigns, and policy advocacy, both within the U.S. and internationally, the campaign will drive public engagement as well as funding resources for partner organizations working to combat these forms of violence on the ground in the United States, Canada, India, Kenya, Uganda, and Ghana.

Approach

The fundamental concept of the Commitment is to raise awareness on human rights violations on women through media (the UNMUTED docuseries specifically) and then, in conjunction with nonprofit partners, create change in society via impact campaigns.

The commitment involves launching a comprehensive impact campaign for the docuseries UNMUTED, addressing the global issues of child marriage, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) , and acid attacks. The campaign will be executed through grassroots, non-theatrical screenings, communications campaigns, and policy advocacy, both within the U.S. and internationally. The objective is to raise awareness, change attitudes, and inspire action to combat these forms of violence against women and girls.
Implementation will involve leveraging existing relationships with global NGOs, educational institutions, and community leaders to reach the most affected populations. The campaign will also utilize the influence of celebrity hosts to amplify the message on social media, driving public engagement and supporting policy changes and educational initiatives.

Potential challenges may include cultural hindrance in certain regions due to traditional beliefs, logistical difficulties in organizing local screenings, and ensuring sustained funding for the campaign’s duration.

The campaign team will comprise of the docuseries production team as well as the nonprofit partners. Together, they bring extensive expertise in documentary filmmaking, global issue advocacy, and impact-driven campaigns, with a strong track record of creating content that inspires change and fosters public discourse. Partner organizations, including global NGOs such as Unchained At Last and Sahiyo, have extensive experience in organizing locally tailored events and will contribute on-the-ground expertise, educational resources, and access to local networks to facilitate the effective implementation of the campaign. Together, the effort will focus on championing the agency, choice, safety, and freedom of women and girls worldwide.

Action Plan

The docuseries is completed as of Q3 2024.

The impact campaign of UNMUTED will begin in Q3 2024 with the preparation phase, which includes finalizing the film, developing the impact strategy, and establishing partnerships with additional stakeholders. During this period, the team will engage in fundraising efforts and connect with advocates passionate about the campaign’s mission.

By the end of Q3 2024, the campaign will transition into the build phase, which will focus on organizing festival and special event screenings, confirming campaign ambassadors (including celebrities in episodes) , and preparing a comprehensive social media schedule. Impact activities will be meticulously planned to ensure a smooth launch.

Starting in Q1 2025, the impact phase will commence, marked by the beginning of the non-theatrical grassroots screening tour and the full-scale implementation of the impact campaign. From Q1 to Q4 2025, the campaign will focus on hosting screenings in schools, communities, and high-profile venues, particularly in the U.S., Canada, India, Uganda, and Kenya, all of which are countries featured in the episodes. Each screening will be paired with discussions and workshops aimed at fostering dialogue and encouraging action against gender-based violence. Concurrently, communications campaigns will be launched, utilizing the social media followings of celebrity hosts to amplify the campaign’s message.

Throughout the campaign, regular monitoring and evaluation will be conducted to assess the effectiveness of the activities and make necessary adjustments. Key metrics will include the number of screenings held, audience engagement metrics, and the impact on public awareness and policy discussions. The campaign’s success will be measured by its ability to change minds, behaviors, legislatures, and structures, ultimately promoting the agency, choice, safety, and freedom of women and girls globally. Resources generated by the campaign will be directed to the nonprofit partners, who will facilitate changes indicated in data below.

Background

UNMUTED campaign to stop child marriage, acid violence and female genital mutilation / cutting (FGM/C) :

Worldwide, more than 650 million women alive today were married before 18. Every minute, 28 underaged girls are married off (UN) . In India, although there has been progress, one in four young women were married before their 18th birthday, with higher rates in rural and impoverished areas. In the United States, child marriage is less common but still persists, notably affected by state laws that allow it under specific conditions. Between 2000 and 2018, over 300,000 minors were married in the U.S., mostly girls to adult men .

In some countries, over 80% of acid attack victims are women (USA Data Hub) . Most of these attacks are perpetrated by men in domestic violence situations. Acid attacks fall under the broader categories of domestic violence or gender based violence (GBV) . In the USA, attacks with acid have been reported with some occurrences primarily as acts of domestic violence or personal disputes, and remain a threat to those vulnerable in relationships. Survivors face devastating long-term consequences, both physically and psychologically, which hinder their full participation in society.

Female genital mutilation / cutting or circumcision (FGM/C) impacts over 230 million women and girls, or 2.8% of total global population. That’s a 15% increase compared to data eight years ago (UN) . Treatment of the health complications from FGM/C is estimated to cost health systems US$ 1.4 billion per year (WHO) . In the United States, the issue of FGM/C is commonly associated with immigrant communities. But in reality, many Americans, whether willingly or unwillingly, go through the procedure as well. As of 2013, up to 507,000 women and girls were estimated to be at risk or had already undergone FGM/C (PRB) .

Progress Update

Partnership Opportunities

A commitment of this magnitude and broadness will require a robust financial backing. The scale of the campaign will be directly tied to the amount of funding raised. The docuseries is now completed and ready to be deployed as an effective tool in this campaign. The team is now seeking impact campaign funding.

Implementing partners in this case are stakeholders on these issues. The series features several nonprofits, government officials, and survivors. But the optimal execution of the impact campaign will include beyond existing stakeholder relationships and coalesce more partners., By unifying all the stakeholders on these social issues, this commitment will provide an opportunity for all to communicate and learn from each other. The goal is to help generate best practices through this process that are unique to each party/region/issue involved.

The filmmaking team will utilize their expertise in storytelling and support those that are willing to share their stories. Content will be created to document and share the stories of stakeholders as a way of motivating more effort and humanizing these topics.