Awareness campaigns
We have pledged to tackle domestic and sexual violence in Leicester, working alongside Leicestershire County Council, Rutland County Council and the Police and Crime Commissioner for Leicestershire.
Quick links
When is it time to act?
A new campaign called ‘When is it time to act?’ launched in November 2020 across Leicester Leicestershire and Rutland. It aims to encourage more reporting by members of the public of domestic violence and abuse, including sexual violence and abuse within a relationship.
Aims of the campaign
This awareness campaign has been created primarily to engage you in your role as a helper. Helpers could be family, friends or colleagues. The campaign presents various signs of domestic abuse within a relationship, often examples of coercive control, revealed through text conversations between people who are concerned about someone.
The campaign talks about things people notice in a relationship that many people might minimise initially, but which can be early warning signs. The campaign tells you how to get further information and help.
How the 'When is it time to act?' campaign looks
The campaign assets are mainly animations and poster designs. They replicate the look and style of phone chats, in a series of bright colours. They tell relatable stories informed by real events, captured in a few words and emojis.
What we want people to do
For each story there is an accompanying message to explain how domestic violence often builds up gradually without us noticing. The viewer is asked to think 'When is it time to act?' The implied answer is ‘it’s now'. The call to action is:
If something isn’t right, don’t stay silent, we’re here to help. Contact us in confidence.
Local specialist services will give information, and let people discuss options, with everyone's safety at the centre of the discussion.
Shame is a barrier to getting help that many who have been a victim of domestic or sexual abuse feel acutely. One group member commented ‘What’s shameful is your silence’ when talking of the community response to these issues. Silence due to shame is what we hope to challenge the community about, and support everyone to overcome.
Audiences we want to reach
The conversations have been carefully selected to ring true for a variety of people, particularly those people in our area that seem to be less likely to report domestic abuse, or that experience abuse for longer before reporting; women over 60, British Asian Indian women, men and young people.
What’s next for ‘When is it time to act?’
We are currently developing additional messages and materials to bring these important messages to even more people. We aim to incorporate the myth-busting that is needed to reduce the barriers that people often face when thinking of the options available to them.
Share the campaign
The campaign can be seen on Twitter @_HowmanyTimes and at various sites around Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. Please join in with the campaign by sharing it on social media with the hashtags #TimetoAct #CoerciveControl #LLRHelpers #LLRDomesticAbuse #LLRReducingBarriers or by asking organisations you know to display the materials.
To use the campaign materials, or for more information about the campaign please contact us.
How many times?
We use the phrase ‘How many times?’ because we know that, on average, a person experiences 36 incidents of domestic violence before seeking help.
Follow us on Twitter, share our posts and find out about events, training and services in Leicester @_howmany times.
Wrong campaign
Our ‘Wrong’ campaign is a series of posters, social media resources and digital adverts to raise awareness of the UAVA service.
Abuse is always wrong, whatever the circumstances.