Article 19

1,300,000

People reached

15+

Physical events

2

Civil society coalitions

Project: #FreeToProtest Cause: Human Rights Deliverables: Advocacy & Influence, Brand & Content, Purpose Advertising & Campaigns, Research & Strategy

We collaborated with Article 19’s regional offices in Kenya & Brazil to build a grassroots coalition to deliver a bilateral behaviour change campaign. By shifting public perceptions of protesting, we catalysed a movement to safeguard civic space otherwise under threat from oppressive governments.

Challenge

Across the world, we see the defining features of our increasingly polarised and populist world having a profound impact on the expression of protest. How can we challenge negative stereotypes of protestors and convince the public that demonstrations are legitimate forms of expression that are fundamental to democracy?

Utopia

Increased positive perception of protesting as a fundamental human right by citizens in Brazil & Kenya, ensuring everyone has the right to peacefully protest without the fear of state sanctioned violence.

Solution

To create an ambitious behaviour change campaign that will change the narrative towards the right to protest. Our research driven strategy analysing public sentiment and civic society capacity sought to create a strong alternative narrative that could challenge the commonly held stereotypes around protest. We created an adaptive campaign that created a diverse coalition to launch campaign activations with the public.