Pilot Project Basel

The campaign: “Respect is a Must - for Everyone.“ was launched in May 2007 in Basel. The development of the initiative was spurred by the one-sided media coverage of sexual assault and violations among youth in Switzerland in 2006, where headline shockers and stereotyped victim-offender schemata were regenerated. Carmen Bregy and Dinah Zanetti-Überwasser thus conceptualized the campaign: “Respect is a Must - for Everyone.“ The initiative was co-developed and implemented in collaboration with the members of the Basel Girls Council (www.maedchenrat.ch) – which was founded and directed by Dinah Zanetti-Überwasser. The Girls Council is open to all girls and young women who are interested in politics, careers and public affairs, or who are simply interested in knowing where and how they can get involved in social issues. For the campaign: “Respect is a Must - for Everyone.“ the young women of the Girls Council contributed their knowledge, experience and ideas and agreed to displaying the posters that were produced to the public. The idea to link a participative empowerment-initiative with a public poster campaign was developed together with the girls and young women during the pilot project in Basel.

A key feature of Arip is the empowerment of young women and girls resonating on two levels: internally (workshops, personal examination of topics) and externally (public poster campaign).

The kick-off of Arip in Basel attracted great interest and as a result the campaign: “Respect is a Must - for Everyone.“ has since been implemented in numerous other German-speaking cantons. The active participation of the young women and girls is high on the agenda. This approach and the experiences accumulated through the political work with young women in the Girls Council were successfully adopted and implemented in the campaign: “Respect is a Must - for Everyone.“