Don’t Look Away! When IOL reports story after story about women and children being murdered or raped, we ask you to please Don’t Look Away.
Please acknowledge the life that has been cut short so abruptly or altered so brutally.
Please help women and children who experience violence to seek help.
Last December, Independent Media launched the Don’t Look Away campaign to run parallel to the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children campaign.
Our campaign recently took second place at the International News Media Association Global Media Awards in New York for best use of video.
So in light of the ongoing violence against SA’s women and children to which there seems to be no end, we’ve resurrected the Don’t Look Away campaign today, six months early, because it most captures what we want from you our readers.
We pledge to stand up against abuse and to lend our voices to ending violence against women and children. We encourage you to do the same.
We also, once again, call on people to paint their index finger with orange nail polish or wear something orange to show support. Orange is the colour identified by the UN to symbolise a brighter future without violence.
We at IOL will not look away.
We hope that by reporting on these heinous crimes we give a voice to the victim.
We hope that by reporting on their families’ grief, we turn their loss into more than a statistic.
We hope that by reporting on the perpetrators, they will never be given a chance to hurt another person.
We hope that by speaking to individuals and organisations who are promoting safety in communities, reducing trauma experienced by victims, promoting gender equality, and working to strengthen the criminal justice system, we are telling those living in fear that there is help and hope out there.
So join us and #DontLookAway