Event Announcement: Stylekandy rings the bell with Breakthrough!

India’s premier fashion portal is celebrating its 4th Anniversary, on 16^th June at Sahara Star, helps Breakthrough, ring the bell with the fashion fraternity.
The popular campaign “Bell Bajao” will be integrated into the event as India’s leading designers express their solidarity for the cause.
Leading participating designers include:
Narendra Kumar, Rocky S, Archana Kochhar, Neeta Lulla, Rahul Mishra, Nachiket Barve, Babita Malkani, Krishna Mehta, Arshiya Fakih and Vizyon

These designers will showcase their collections and a Bell Bajao – Stylekandy tee-shirt that will seal their participation in the campaign against Domestic Violence.

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Aki Narula, Lecoanet Hemant and Narendra Kumar take a Stand Against Domestic Violence

January 13th, 2010 – Muse and Verve bring together the fashion fraternity to support Breakthrough’s “Bell Bajao” Campaign at an exclusive event where Designers will introduce bespoke creations made especially for Breakthrough.

For details here

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International Women’s Day Celebrations

March 7, 2009

Lucknow

On the eve of International Women’s Day our Youth Rights Advocates took the Bell Bajao! campaign on to the streets of Lucknow to generate awareness on the issues of violence against women and the Protection of Women against Domestic Violence Act 2005.The Breakthrough call to action of bell bajao or “ring the bell” found huge support in Lucknow, urging young people to act when they witness violence against women. Breakthrough’s community leaders, known as Youth Rights Advocates organized public events in four places in the city: West End Mall, Kapoorthala, Puraniya and Saharagunj Mall lasting the entire day.

Drawing large audiences using audio visual screenings, street theatre performances and puppet shows, the event culminated with advocates from all four spots coming together for a candlelight march. The advocates attracted attention with their captivating jingles, pamphlets, flyers and opinion polls. The public participated whole-heartedly and we collected over 1,000 signatures calling for implementation of the PWDVA in the state of Uttar Pradesh for increased protection of women.

Blog Action Week- International Women’s Day

2nd to 8th March 2009

Women and Men Unite to End Violence against Women

The ground-breaking Bell Bajao blog celebrated International Women’s Day by organizing a blog action week . Asking readers to be change agents and “ring the bell”, we invited stories of people, especially men, whose actions, beliefs, thoughts, professions or even words support women’s rights. With dynamic and notable personalities such as Bollywood actor and campaign spokesperson Boman Irani and politician Shashi Tharoor joining us and sharing their thoughts, the event became even more invigorating.

Over the eight day campaign, we received a number of thought-provoking posts from and about men and women celebrating equality and rights for all. The stories covered a gamut of emotions – hope, angst, resilience, anticipation, fear and motivation. The entries that got the Bell Bajao team thinking received movie tickets and flower bouquet coupons courtesy our media and event partners 9X, WAVE Cinemas and Spring Blossoms.

Bell Bajao Launch

September 17, 2008

Mumbai

Mumbai rang in the change, when Breakthrough launched its third multimedia campaign—Bell Bajao – a call to both men and women to bring domestic violence to a halt. The campaign, in collaboration with The Ministry of Women and Child Development, UNIFEM and the United Nations Trust Fund was released by popular Bollywood actor and Bell Bajao! brand ambassador Boman Irani at the KC College auditorium on September 17, 2008. Other speakers included Dr. Indu Shahani, Sheriff of Mumbai and Principal of HR College Ms. Manju Nichani, Principal KC College, and Zenobia Pathiwala, Sr. Creative Director, O&M.

Facing a charged audience of Bell Bajao’s media partners and supporters, students and news media, Boman Irani officially unveiled the campaign posters and showcased two spectacular ads asking the audience to ring the bell and fight domestic violence. In his inaugural speech, Boman encouraged students to take initiative and come forward to support the cause. Following suit, Dr. Shahani led a pledge asking everyone to not perpetrate violence by remaining silent. Ms. Nichani also shared her views and entreated the audience to educate everyone about the PWDVA. Ms. Pithawala shared the concept behind the Bell Bajao campaign, and the importance of including men as partners in bringing domestic violence to a halt.

Bell Bajao on Wheels

September to November 2008

As part of its 360 degree media campaign to end domestic violence, Breakthrough ran mobile video vans in six districts across three Indian states. Supported by our local media and NGO partners , the vans travelled through Uttar Pradesh (Lucknow and Aligarh), Maharashtra (Aurangabad and Nasik) and Karnataka (Dakshin Kannada and Mandya).

Targeting the general population, the vans reached approximately 2.5 million individuals. Informative handbooks, flyers, posters and kits on topics of domestic violence, HIV/AIDS and nutrition were distributed. The vans also showcased an audio and video loop of Bell Bajao radio jingles, television commercials, and Breakthrough music albums, voiceovers from Breakthrough’s Rights Advocates and celebrity bytes. The vans traveled through a variety of locales: slums, malls, hospitals, local markets, schools, colleges, and railway stations. Our street theatre groups in the three cities ensured large scale participation and interaction through their energetic and informative performances. The audience was encouraged to participate in several contests and games and the winners went home with Breakthrough products.

Involving men, women and children, Bell Bajao’s traveling video vans were a huge success, giving Breakthrough and the general public the opportunity to interact directly wit each other, and generating awareness on the issue of domestic violence and HIV/AIDS.