“Without Illusions. Guide to a Healthy Relationship”

Campaign background

Every third woman in Ukraine has experienced at least one form of violence from her marriage partner. Moreover, physical violence is often preceded by psychological violence. According to the surveys held in 2020 by the UNFPA Ukraine, only 43% of the respondents can recognize psychological violence in relationships. Communications for violence prevention cannot be neglected. Despite the fact that young people aged 16-21 are at risk, they often do not realize that violence is taking place in their relationships. The problem affects them and their friends, however, the signs of a toxic relationship remain unrecognizable. 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the level of psychological stress has increased. In the first months, the number of calls to the National Domestic Violence Hotline has increased by 30%. The situation requires the dissemination of information on the peaceful conflict resolution and the regulation of the level of aggression that can lead to violence in relationships.

Campaign goal

Create short educational videos for young people (16-22 years old) with tips on how to recognize the early signs of psychological violence in relationships, as well as challenge the most common beliefs that justify or lead to GBV. Thus, to contribute to the strengthening of the intolerance to GBV in Ukrainian society, which results in strong disapproval of all forms of violence.

The following 3 blocks of topics were selected for the task:

1) psychological violence in a relationship (how to recognize what to do if your partner is an abuser or you are an abuser, how to help a friend)

2) healthy conflict management in the relationship: how to calm down if you feel emotionally, how to build communication during the conflict so as not to offend the partner, how to keep the relationship in a constant presence (or / and self-isolation)

3) there is a place for "no" in the relationship: consent - how and why.

Top Ukrainian youth influencers joined the campaign to help young people build happy and healthy relationships. Singers Jerry Heil and Nadia Dorofeeva, actors Daniel Vegas and Anna Trincher, model Tetyana Bryk, video blogger Jan Gordienko and social media influencer Asya Say shared invaluable beads of practical advice to youth. 

Among the prepared material within the campaign, several different formats were created, which allowed to display topics as widely as possible, to attract posts from the heroes of the video and various platforms available to young people (Youtube, Instagram, TikTok).

In particular, the following were manufactured:

8 main videos

Short video interviews from the backstage, where invited celebrities answered questions

General backstage of the campaign

Stylized photos from the backstage with an individual approach to each celebrity.

Campaign achievements

In less than two months after the release, eight videos received over 3 million views. With the voices of opinion leaders, these videos reached both hearts and minds of young Ukrainians, planting seeds of knowledge of how to prevent abuse in relationships. The videos also challenged most common beliefs that either condone or lead to GBV. Thus, they contributed to increasing unacceptability of GBV in Ukrainian society that translates into strong disapproval of any forms of abuse. The growing recognition of the unacceptability of any manifestations of violence lays a foundation for building a violence-free society. The video or/and photos of the campaign were posted on the pages of all the invited influencers, which organically increased the coverage of the campaign.