The future of online campaigns for social change: Learnings from #IsThisLove campaign to address intimate partner violence in India

Summary

Intimate partner violence continues to be a taboo and sensitive topic in India, especially among young people who are more likely to be in non-marital romantic and sexual relationships now than ever before, with little or no awareness about the various forms of violence that can and do occur within intimate relationships, ranging from emotional and financial abuse to physical and sexual violence. This is also because of lack of any discussion or public discourse on what it means to have a healthy intimate relationship, perceptions around which are often shaped by popular culture, that often portray flawed, conflating, and conflicting messages and ideas about love and abuse. Therefore, to increase awareness among young people about healthy and unhealthy relationships, and about intimate partner violence, Love Matters India ran a three month long online campaign in 2017 called #IsThisLove, using Bollywood movies as a hook, and variety of digital media tools, including social media and virtual reality to encourage open and honest conversations about healthy and unhealthy forms of love and care. The campaign provided interesting and valuable insights and learnings about using online media not only for shaping a more informed and inclusive discourse, and influencing positive change in attitudes and opinions around intimate partner violence, but also for social change campaigns generally, as we increasingly rely on online media to catalyse and sustain social change. This presentation will therefore provide a primer on the wins, challenges and hopes for the future of online campaigns for social change.

Background/Objectives

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is becoming increasingly common among young unmarried couples in India, especially emotional and psychological forms of violence which are usually not even looked upon as "valid" form of abuse. The silence and stigma around talking about dating and violence also further limits any public discourse on this issue. With this in mind, Love Matters India ran a three month long online campaign in 2017 titled #IsThisLove with the objective to increase awareness and understanding about intimate partner violence among young people in India, and influence change in attitudes and beliefs about healthy and unhealthy love.

Description Of The Big Idea/experience/innovation And Its Importance To The SBCC Field:

As we increasingly use online media to influence attitudinal and behavioural change on a diverse range of social issues, it is important to also be able to assess the impact of such campaigns to measure the extent and sustainability of the change that is brought about online campaigns. #IsThisLove campaign provides insights into the process of measuring such social change in online spaces by using emerging novel qualitative research methods like sentiment analysis to not only assess the campaign reach, but also be able to gauge the nature, quality and extent of change that can be linked to the campaign. These are important tools that will further evolve with increasingly changing technology and nature of online platforms, and hence, learning to engage and utilise these tools to engender social change, and to understand the impact of online conversations and content in offline spaces is incredibly valuable for developing effective online campaigns for social change in the future.

Discussion/Implications For The Field

With more and more people now online, campaigns for social change are bound to have a critical online component, while also aiming to bridge the gap between online and offline spaces. It therefore becomes imperative for researchers and practitioners working on social and behavioural change to have an informed understanding of how to assess the impact and success of such campaigns, which would in turn serve as the basis for evidence generation, buy in from diverse stakeholders, increased funding and do not support, and scaling up of such campaigns for a more substantive and broader impact.

Abstract submitted by:

Surabhi Srivastava - Development Consortium (DC)

Vithika Yadav -  Development Consortium (DC)