One Strong Voice

Following recommendations from the United Nations’ Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces Global Program, the City of Edmonton wanted to empower bystanders who witness gender-based harassment as allies in addressing that behaviour. People often want to help, but they also often freeze as they debate whether and how they should intervene. The One Strong Voice campaign is based on the insight that witnessing harassment is uncomfortable. Along with feelings of outrage and disbelief, it creates tension between a strong desire to help and fear of making the situation worse, or of putting one’s own safety at risk. We brought that internal struggle out of the audience’s head and into our campaign creative, modelling the inner journey from hesitation to action. The campaign showed these narrative vignettes alongside several concrete ways to help, ranging from direct intervention to documenting and reporting the incident.