Objective With most cases of domestic abuse in Singapore occurring behind closed doors, there is an urgent need to bring this problem to light and trigger change in social attitudes towards violence. Xpointo chose to partner with the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) for one of our corporate social responsibility projects and help effect this social change.

Solution In close collaboration with AWARE, Xpointo conceptualised a digital campaign titled We Can! Singapore. The campaign encompassed a Facebook page with an app that hosted stories of violence from the lives of real people, a social experiment video and a microsite to highlight the issue of domestic violence.

To bring the issue of violence against women, children and the elderly into the public eye, we launched a Facebook page with an app called BLK 2511 consisting of 21 audio conversations that uncovered the many different types of abuse – including physical, psychological, financial, sexual, and spiritual. It emphasised that while most violence against women and children happens at home, domestic violence should not be a private matter.

We staged a social experiment that depicted three fictional scenes of a man abusing his girlfriend in public to see if anyone would help her. Titled “Would You Step In?”, the video focused on those who intervened and enforced the message that we all have a part to play in ending violence against women. The social experiment video was widely viewed and shared on social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube and was heavily reported on by mainstream and independent media channels like Yahoo News, The Straits Times, The New Paper, The Online Citizen, among others. The social media success contributed to raising awareness on domestic violence issues in Singapore.

In addition, We Can! Singapore was recognised by the Avon Foundation in conjunction with Futures Without Violence, a non-profit organization. Out of 870 submissions from more than 300 organisations in 78 countries, We Can! Singapore received a Global Award for Excellence in Communication.