The Breaking the Silence project addresses violence against women and girls (VAWG) in Iran through a creative and culturally sensitive knowledge exchange approach. The initiative aims to design an animated campaign, United to End Violence Against Women and Girls campaign to raise awareness about VAWG, with the ultimate goal of fostering intergenerational change to reduce incidences of VAWG in Iran.
Although the project initially focused on Iran, engaging with UK-based NGOs revealed an interest in extending its reach. As a result, English subtitles were added to make the animations accessible to a wider audience.
What Instigated the Campaign?
The animations are partly grounded in evidence from a survey of 453 women in Iran, which explored women’s perspectives on VAWG and how to eliminate it. The survey findings were recently published by Dr Ladan Hashemi in an article focusing on the quantitative aspect, Using Social Media to Recruit Seldom-Heard Groups: Reaching Women and Girls with Experience of Violence in Iran (Hashemi et al., 2024). A second article, focusing on the qualitative aspect, has been submitted to the Journal of Family Violence ‘Confronting epistemic injustice and Violence Against Women in Iran through awareness raising and legal reform’ (Aghtaie et al); so look out for it!
One of the study’s key findings was that, despite significant structural inequalities and deeply ingrained societal, cultural, and religious norms that perpetuate VAWG, there is hope for change:
“In a patriarchal society with regressive rulers and outdated views rooted in discrimination and gender inequality, combating violence against women is very challenging, but not impossible” (139).
Many participants believed that raising awareness among both women and men, alongside legal reforms, could act as a catalyst for change:
“Unfortunately, many of us still don’t fully understand what violence is and limit it to physical abuse. I believe the solution lies in raising awareness” (241).
For many women, education extended beyond formal schooling, encompassing the family, community, and institutional levels. Participants expressed a desire to be heard and valued as credible sources on VAWG, emphasising their role as active participants in dismantling the barriers that have historically silenced them.
“The root cause of this violence lies in how society raises individuals from a young age to believe in male dominance and the sacredness of ‘honor,’ supported by laws that reinforce these ideas. This system denies people’s agency and human dignity… We can only move past this by raising awareness, challenging outdated traditions, and fostering a new generation that rejects ideas like ‘honor’ and male dominance” (286).
These findings inspired the creation of the animated campaign.
Building the Campaign
To prepare for the campaign, we assembled a multidisciplinary team that included academic experts from various universities (City, University of London; University of Bristol; Goldsmiths University; University for the Creative Arts, London; and Leeds Beckett University), a skilled animation team based in Iran, two NGOs as advisory groups, and a social media advisor as well as networking with online influencers and women’s rights groups activists with large number of followers.
Collaboration and Cultural Sensitivity
Although most academics involved in the project are of Iranian descent, many have lived in the UK for an extended period. This dual perspective allowed us to create a campaign that resonates with both Iranian audiences and the wider diaspora.
We also collaborated with two advisory groups to ensure cultural sensitivity:
- Bahar Afra, an NGO in Iran that works with women from diverse ethnic backgrounds and provides specific programs and support groups for victims of gender based violence.
- IKWRO, a London-based NGO supporting women victims of gender based violence from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
Additionally, we partnered with an animation group in Iran to ensure the visuals were culturally appropriate. While this collaboration was immensely fruitful, it was also challenging due to structural barriers. For security reasons, unfortunately, we are unable to name the tireless brilliant animation team, whom we affectionately call the ‘resilient anonymous creators’.
Overcoming Challenges
Communication throughout the project relied on various platforms:
- Telegram was used to connect with the animation team, as this is the most accessible platform in Iran.
- WhatsApp groups facilitated discussions among Farsi-speaking researchers and the advisory group in the UK.
- Email was used to coordinate with English-speaking colleagues.
Technical challenges, such as electricity cuts and poor internet connections, sometimes disrupted meetings with the animation team. Time differences and varying schedules also meant that some meetings took place as early as 6:30 a.m. or on weekends. Despite these hurdles, the process was rewarding and educational.
Outputs and Distribution
To date, the United to End Violence Against Women and Girls campaign has produced four animations focusing on:
- Coercive control
- Economic abuse
- Technology-facilitated abuse
- Active bystander interventions
With guidance from our social media advisor, we developed a digital strategy to maximise the campaign’s impact. Instagram was chosen as the primary platform for distribution, as it remains unfiltered in Iran and is widely used, with over 47 million users. However, this approach has limitations, including issues of digital literacy, access to technology, and exclusion of some in rural communities or people with certain disabilities.
To amplify its reach, we partnered with influencers ranging from several hundred to over two million followers. Women’s rights activists, with audiences of 20,000 to over 400, 000 followers, have also committed to sharing the animations.
Looking Ahead
The United to End Violence Against Women and Girls campaign aims to raise awareness about VAWG, particularly forms of violence that are less widely discussed. By leveraging evidence-based content and strategic partnerships, we hope to spark meaningful conversations and drive change across Iran and the MENA region.
This project exemplifies the power of collaboration and cultural sensitivity in addressing systemic issues and serves as a testament to the resilience and creativity of everyone involved, especially the animation team, the ‘resilient anonymous creators’ and our NGO partner in Iran who are doing amazing work under difficult conditions.
We have secured funding from City’s Higher Education Impact Fund (HEIF) Knowledge Exchange and by VISION to produce two additional animations. Additionally, we have created a professional Instagram page, Women Research Hub, and a YouTube channel (for those who do not have access to Instagram) where the completed animations are being loaded over the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence 2024 and can be viewed and future work will also be shared.
