Curley Street, a Bengaluru-based film production house, has bagged two prizes at the 2018 AVA Digital Awards for its campaign on Bystander Intervention (BI) and women's safety.
It has won the Platinum Award in the 'Pro-Bono Campaign' category and the Gold Award in the 'Social Media Video/PSA Campaign' category. Curley Street is also the only winner from India at the AVA awards this year.
AVA Digital Awards is an international competition that recognizes excellence in planning, concept, direction, design and production of digital communication.
"This campaign is a deeply personal account of the experiences women endure as they grow up. As a child I was taught to be watchful; as an athlete I was always wary of what attention I was drawing while out for a run. As a filmmaker, I was able to finally speak through this campaign - for every woman who has encountered violence in any form and for every adult who can be an active bystander. This award is important because it marks the acceptance of a society that’s ready to listen and respond," said filmmaker Pavitra Chalam, founder of Curley Street.
The Bystander Intervention campaign, called #HowWillWeRespond, was run in the month of September 2017 to raise awareness and start a conversation around the issue.
Bystander Intervention is largely a violence prevention strategy, developed keeping in mind that violent or potentially violent/threatening and even uncomfortable situations often occur in the presence of others.
For the campaign, Curley Street collaborated with clinical psychologist Dr Divya Kannan who specialises in trauma and sexual violence and is also trained in bystander intervention.
They also worked with www.HowRevealing.com to encourage people who have intervened positively in the past to share their stories. https://www.ihollaback.org/, a global movement to end harassment which focuses on BI training, also helped with campaign.
As part of the campaign, Curley Street released videos and interviews with experts.