History

Campaign: “Respect is a Must - for Everyone.” is

·         a campaign against sexual, physical and psychological violence

·         a campaign against the toleration of sexual, physical and psychological violence

·         a campaign against sexism

·         a campaign against disrespect

·         a campaign for more awareness, moral courage and action

·         a campaign for girls and young women

Pilot project in Basel and implementation to date

The campaign: “Respect is a Must - for Everyone.” was launched in Basel in 2007. The development of the campaign was prompted by the one-sided and stereotyped nature of the mass media coverage of sexual violence and offences among youth in Switzerland in 2006. Due to the resonance and effectiveness of the campaign, what was originally planned as a single action, grew into a nation-wide project. Since the campaign’s move to a national platform, over 200 posters from local initiatives have been designed. The cities of Wil and St. Gallen, as well as the cantons of Baselland, Zug, Zürich and Luzern have already implemented Arip. The implementation of the campaign: “Respect is a Must - for Everyone.” in French-speaking Switzerland and the associated translation into additional languages is now in the initial phase. Furthermore, the multiplication of Arip’s content and method of approach on an international level is in planning.

Innovative methods and creative products

The combined participative empowerment initiative and public poster campaign was developed together with the participating girls during the pilot project in Basel. During each implementation of the Arip initiative, the participants were at least partially included in the planning and design of the campaign. The participation of the girls is high on the agenda. Not only do the participants attend self-defense courses and other workshops, they independently develop slogans for their posters, explore gender stereotypes in the media, gender roles in society and personal boundaries, develop ideas regarding behavior patterns, in order to strengthen their resolve concerning the maintenance of their personal boundaries, and conceptualize additional projects. In this way participants produced and organized a “Have Respect” comic and street performance in St. Gallen, a short film in Zürich, a DRS1 radio interview in Zug and several press interviews in Baselland.

Campaign: “Respect is a Must - for Everyone.” 94.5

Together with RadioX in Basel radio workshops were arranged for young women and girls in spring 2009. The Arip campaign message took on as such an additional medium: Campaign: The campaign: “Respect is a Must - for Everyone.” henceforth also to be heard on the radio.

May 2009: taking stock and celebrations.

To this end a one-day conference on the topic was held at Unternehmen Mitte in Basel. Additionally, all Arip campaign projects completed to date were shown together for the first time during a week-long exhibition from May 11-16, 2009 in Connect Café, Basel. Participants from the Radio X workshops were present to interview the conference participants and document the event.

Two awards for Arip 2009

In 2009 the accomplishments of the campaign: “Respect is a Must - for Everyone.” were recognised by two awards:

·         “Heisses Eisen 2009“ – Equal Opportunities Award, Basel

·         Peperonapreis 2009  – awarded by the Women of the Swiss Social Democratic Party (SP), Aargau