1. Reflect back on the objective of the tool you built: did you exceed it, or fall short? If so, why?

“I Can Choose to Say No – Love is not violence” (Mogu da neću – Ljubav nije nasilje) is the name of prevention program of the Autonomous Women’s Centre for and with youth. The main aim of the program is to prevent violence against women and girls (VAWG) through education and awareness raising of youth (especially girls) to recognize, refuse and actively stand up against rigid gender roles and different forms of VAWG.

An important segment of our preventive work is the awareness raising campaign that includes interactive website content, like games and quizzes, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok pages with videos and visuals, as well as other material designed for the needs of youth (pop sockets, stickers, bags, temporary tattoos, stencils, Viber stickers etc).

Strong presence on online platforms and use of digital tools was an important part of the campaign, as it was crucial to follow the needs and behaviour habits of young people in order to be able to reach them. We believe we have fulfilled our objective to provide youth, especially young women, with content that will make them rethink on gender stereotypes and violence against women and girl, build their self-esteem and that we have created a safe space for them to ask questions, comment and seek support if needed.

2. What are the tools’ metrics for success and what does metric say – how well did the tool do?

During 2021. website mogudanecu.rs had more than 30.000 unique visitors and more than 57.000 visits.  Facebook page has more than 12.800 followers, and that number is steady, which we interpret with the fact that young people for whom the content is created are no longer using Facebook as they primarily social network for spending time on.  On the other hand, Instagram page has almost 7.000 followers and the audience is growing on a daily basis.  TikTok account is where we have the least followers (a bit over 1300) and it is still a tool which opportunities we have not used in their maximum. On all platforms we see that young women aged 18-24 are our main audience.

Overall, we can say that we are satisfied with the reach of our different channels.

3. Were your assumptions that the tool you built would: increase participation/engagement or tackle an issue/raise awareness correct? Do you think you chose the right approach – and what would you do differently?

Our goal to create a digital space for rethinking about culture of violence against women and engaging youth to express their attitudes and change their minds on patriarchal norms is fulfilled. We believe that we used the right approach in order to reach youth, as we have chosen places on the internet where they spend their time. The only thing that we see as a ‘must’ is to invest more energy in creating TikTok content – which is our goal for the next period, as on this platform we will be able to reach even younger audience (14-18), which we find important.

4. What are you hearing from users? What do they enjoy in tool? What do they find challenging?

In the last period, we hear that our serial of posts on Rape culture is something that has attracted a lot of attention of our audience. We have increase engagement of users, as they are encouraged to write public comments and messages on the content of posts, and some of them even sending us examples of rape culture that they see in their surroundings. We see this as very important – the fact that youth are starting to see patterns of violence in their own communities. At the same time, what we are especially proud of is that our audience engage in responding to comments that normalize violence; they themselves feel the need to stand up against these types of attitudes.

These are some of the latest comments and messages:

“I didn’t have an idea that these went so far. Thank you for waking the conciseness on many issues. I am horrified, I’m literally shaking” (comment on the post regarding sex dolls and robots, as part of Rape culture serial)

“Great” Absolutely relevant for our communities!” (comment on the post regarding fear of rape in women and girls, as part of Rape culture serial)

“I apologize in the name of men” (comment on our post regarding confessions of women on their experience of violence #NisamPrijavila)

“This whole serial of posts is great! Can you make one regarding commercials?” (comment on the post regarding sexist jokes and memes, as part of Rape culture serial)

“I just wanted to tell you that I have just learned about your profile and that I am, kindly spoken, thrilled with what you do!” (private message)