Cambodian NGO wins awards for anti-violence video
Hong Raksmey | Publication date 23 October 2022 | 20:12 ICT

The Muse award won by This Life Cambodia campaign. PHOTO SUPPLIED
This Life Cambodia (TLC), a non-profit organisation based in Siem Reap province, collected four international awards last week for its confrontational domestic violence video Virtual Reality – Life is Not a Game. The campaign has been widely recognised as a success, notably beating out some established brands and agencies’ work for awards in the past.

“To win an award in this context is incredibly special. It reinforces the importance of the work we are doing to fight domestic violence in Cambodia,” said Borany Chea, a section lead with TLC.

“We love that it puts a spotlight on this issue and keeps it at the front of people’s minds for that bit longer. There is much still to be done, and we continue our work in this area every day. Our creative campaigning is just one branch of the work,” she added.

This Life picked up the coveted Gold MUSE Creative Award for integrated marketing for a non-profit. The MUSE Creative Awards are an international competition for creatives who inspire others to greater heights.

An additional two awards were bestowed on This Life by Dragons of Asia, with the organisation picking up Best Campaign by Country (Cambodia) and a bronze trophy for best cause, charity marketing or public sector campaign.

Dragons of Asia stated that each winning campaign reflects the highest industry standards of strategic relevance, originality, creative execution and effectiveness, reflecting the diversity of marketing communications throughout Asia.

On top of this, This Life’s campaign also took out a silver award at the Global Good Awards for best campaign of the year. The Global Good Awards are all about recognising businesses, NGOs, charities and social enterprises of all shapes and sizes around the world, who are driving social and environmental change.

The video received a gold Asia-Pacific Stevie award for innovation, determined by averaging the scores of more than 100 executives around the world who acted as judges.

The short film features a man using a virtual reality headset. He is shown playing through a simulation of what women really experience when they are the victims of domestic violence.

The film begins with a man wearing the VR headset and playing as the woman in a simulation as she drives her scooter home. It soon becomes apparent that the player loses the game whenever the woman he is playing as is beaten to death by her husband at home and everyone then watches as he tries to avoid that fate in order to “win”.

“Our call to action raised awareness of gender-based violence, engaged community members, influencers and international ambassadors to share their thoughts and encouraged people to act,” said Billy Gorter, This Life’s executive director.

“We also wanted to provide support to women with useful information on who they could reach out to for support, and useful tips on how people could support women experiencing domestic violence,” he added.

He said the multiple award winning campaign’s primary objective has been to encourage individuals, communities and local authorities to take action and to come together to support women experiencing violence.

This Life wanted to create an engaging campaign and video, where Cambodians could see and understand the true reality of and the enormous impact that gender-based violence has on women and children as well as highlight the concrete actions that they can take against domestic violence.
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VIDEO viewing on the FB link below.

New music video by This Life NGO raises awareness on violence issue
Hong Raksmey | Publication date 01 December 2022 | 21:11 ICT

The NGO This Life Cambodia is following up on its award-winning 2021 campaign to end violence against women and children with a new theme “Goodbye My Love”, which focuses on the role the entire community can play in eliminating violence and supporting women.

Following the completion of last year’s “Life is not a Game” campaign, the latest campaign is running from November 25 to December 10.

“Goodbye My Love” is the title of a mournful song which is sung from the perspective of a woman farewelling the man she loves, as she can no longer abide his abuse.

A music video made to accompany the song attracted nearly a million views in the first six days of the campaign.

This Life Cambodia executive director Billy Gorter said violence is a stark reality for many women in Cambodia.

“All forms of abuse, especially physical, are unacceptable. Unfortunately, statistics and studies show that domestic abuse is still very much normalised in Cambodian culture. Each and every one has a part to play in changing this reality. When communities stand together, they can effect change and cause large cultural shifts,” he added.

The organisation said a culture of blaming the victim is rooted in the minds of Cambodian women, noting that 66 per cent of Cambodians believe that victims of domestic violence should remain silent for the sake of their families.

“In our short educational video, we show abuse in many forms, including emotional, financial and physical abuse. All of these are unacceptable,” said a statement accompanying the video.

The goal of the campaign is not only to end physical violence, but also to halt financial and emotional exploitation.

The NGO said everyone has a duty to protect each other, especially their loved ones, and stop violence against women.

The central focus of this year’s campaign is an inspirational, three-minute short music video for “Goodbye My Love” that shows Cambodian communities rallying together to support women facing domestic abuse and to shun the perpetrators.

New lyrics were written for the famous old Khmer song of the same name.

The song was performed by Lim Rathserey, accompanying herself on guitar. The video stars actors drawn from the Phare Circus, with their powerful performances sure to elicit an emotional response.
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Rattanakiri Province Launches 16-Day Campaign to Stop Violence Against Women and Girls

AKP Rattanakiri, December 02, 2022—

Rattanakiri Provincial Department of Women's Affairs in cooperation with Plan International organises in the provincial city on Dec. 1 the launching ceremony of 16-Day Campaign to Stop Violence Against Women and Girls themed "Acting Together to Stop Violence Against Women and Girls".

Photo: AKP-Rattanakiri