In front of my house, there is a family that drags the woman by her hair. They drag her near the gas and say ‘burn yourself’. They don’t give her food. in winters I see her without warm clothes. In summers she has no fan. She stays locking a room, like a prisoner. After watching the Bell Bajao ads, we started making some noise every time we heard violence. The violence used to stop for the time being. Eventually it stopped entirely. I did feel good about helping her. Earlier I used to feel helpless around her. Now she’s happy, so I am happy. It was like helping my own child. I want to thank Bell Bajao for inspiring me to take action.
Breakthrough’s Bell Bajao! launched in India in 2008, is a cultural and media campaign that calls on men and boys to take a stand against domestic violence. The campaign seeks to reduce domestic violence and to highlight the role that men and boys can play in reducing violence.
Bell Bajao’s award-winning series of PSAs has been viewed by over 130 million people. The announcements, inspired by true stories, showed men and boys stepping up and ringing the bell to interrupt overheard domestic violence. In 2010, Breakthrough’s video vans traveled 14,000 miles through cities and villages screening these PSAs and involving communities through games, street theatre and other cultural tools resulting in a sustainable, on-ground process of transforming hearts and minds.
Bell Bajao’s tools and messages have been adapted by individuals and organisations around the world, including Canada, China, Pakistan and Vietnam. The campaign has won Breakthrough 23 awards including the Silver Lion at the 2010 Advertising Festival held at Cannes.
Ring The Bell: One million men. One million promises calls on men worldwide to promise to take concrete action to end violence against women.
Men and women together have responded with outrage to recent dramatic acts of violence from Delhi to Cairo to Steubenville. We know that effective laws, courts, and cops are essential — but they are not enough. We need individual and community action to challenge the habits and norms that perpetuate violence.
Men, their allies, and their actions, can create that global tipping point, today.
Together with our partners in South Africa, Brazil, Sweden, and more, we will secure one million promises in one year, starting March 8, 2013 (International Women’s Day).
With men as leaders and partners, we can build a world in which women are safe — and in which all of us live freely, fully, and without fear.
