Domestic Violence Intervention Program
Sparking important conversations in our community
background
The Domestic Violence Intervention Program (DVIP) serves eastern Iowa from Jackson to Van Buren counties and each of them in-between. DVIP offers support and advocacy services to victims and survivors of domestic abuse, stalking, dating violence, and human trafficking.
brief
In the summer of 2016, the Domestic Violence Intervention Program of Iowa was awarded a grant from Verizon Wireless’ HopeLine program to work with a social media agency to raise awareness about teen dating violence, while empowering active bystanders to speak out. Through different graphics geared towards teens, active bystanders, and parents, Sculpt (and creative partner Creative Mellen) helped DVIP spark the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, and beyond.
our approach
We set out to do the following:
- Spark conversation within the community on how to respond and take actionable steps against domestic violence, specifically teen dating violence.
- Increase engagement and awareness about dating violence to parents, active bystanders, and teens on both Facebook and Instagram.
- Grow DVIP’s Instagram presence to reach a younger demographic.
During the initial creative conceptualization of this campaign, Sculpt and its partners strove to find a word or phrase that represented the different aspects of the campaign. Recognize stuck, a word with powerful meaning for not only victims of teen dating violence, but active bystanders who were seeing the dating violence happen. With some pretty frightening statistics, like nearly half (43%) of dating college aged women report experiencing violent and abusive behavior in a relationship, and 1.5 million high school students nationwide experience physical abuse from a partner in a relationship each year, we wanted to make sure this campaign was reaching the teens and young adults of Iowa City. Sculpt and its creative partners held focus groups to see what kind of content performed best over different demographics, and came up with the following concepts to appeal to teen dating violence victims, teen active bystanders, and parents who needed to recognize the signs of teen dating violence.
defining keywords
This content helped to define the words surrounding this campaign. Defining the keywords at the beginning of the campaign set up the rest of the terminology throughout the campaign and got viewers familiar with the terms.
behaviors series
This series helped to expand on the terminology (buzzwords) established and gave specific examples of the ways that abuse can be found in the emotional, physical, and digital realms.
correcting memes
Our team collected memes from popular Facebook or Instagram pages that were inherently problematic. We then corrected these memes to help viewers realize unhealthy relationship behavior.
signs series
To reflect the impact that teen dating violence has on the Iowa City community, we took photos in prominent Iowa City locations and at City High School. This series performed very well with the recognizable landmarks in the background of each shot.
Conversations
One of the most rewarding effects of the Recognize campaign was the conversations in the comments section of our posts. DVIP found countless opportunities to share personal stories, support, and education for people who didn’t initially agree or understand teen dating violence. Whether it was DVIP commenting back as part of the conversation, or other dating violence awareness activists in the community rising to the occasion, each post contained a helpful nugget that informed all who took a moment to scroll through the comments.
our results
With a modest budget pegged for amplification, we were able to reach 253,725 people with our content, earning 475,017 impressions and 26,997 engagements on Facebook alone. 91.2% of our 3,500+ Instagram engagements were completed by teens who live in our target areas. DVIP’s owned social media audience nearly doubled over the course of about three months.
our impact
The conversations continued long after we published the series, and became a powerful learning tool for our community. Not only were we able to raise significant awareness about teen dating violence, but we were able to grow the audience of DVIP supporters who will, in turn, volunteer, donate, and tell their friends about DVIP’s services. Key objective: met.
DVIP’s crisis line is open 24/7. Call them at 800-373-1043 if you or someone you know is in an abusive relationship. Looking for more resources or interested in finding out how you can help? Visit DVIPiowa.org.
The team is phenomenal and it was as if we were their #1 priority–I cannot say enough about their professionalism and knowledge of their craft that they bring to the table.
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