This year, Refuge is marking 50 years of fighting domestic abuse. Yet, despite the charities' tireless work, rising levels of domestic violence and abuse mean that there is actually very little to celebrate. 

This is why for Refuge’s 50th anniversary the charity is using the milestone to launch a new campaign created by BBH, which highlights the insidious ways technology is being used by abusers to monitor and control their partners, and how this makes the charity’s job more complex than ever.

“Lots of brands and charities celebrate big Birthdays but that isn’t the way Refuge and BBH decided to go” explained Lisa King, Director of Communications and External Relations at Refuge. “We are proud that we opened the world's first Refuge in Chiswick in 1971, a house which supported around 40 women and kids. Today we are an organization that has a plethora of different life-saving services, supporting 1000s of women and children on any given day. We’ve achieved a lot but the sad fact is that the statistics remain the same around domestic abuse as they have done for decades.”

King continues: “Two women are killed every week by a current or former partner, and that’s just in England and Wales. As many as one in four women experience domestic abuse some time in their lives. It’s a huge huge issue; one that isn’t looking like it’s getting any better.” 

These concerning statistics unfortunately come as no surprise. Over the past few years, the safety of women has been a growing concern with the extent of the abuse women face highlighted by the Me Too movement and the brutal killing of Sarah Everard. “We do not yet live in a world where women are afforded their basic human right of safety,” says King.

“While Refuge has done a lot, in terms of the issue of domestic abuse, there’s nothing to celebrate.” says King, “And, this campaign draws into focus that domestic abuse is much broader than that which most people think of it.” 

Spotlighting the issue

Where most people might associate domestic violence with physical or emotional abuse, the issue runs far deeper. Domestic abuse encompasses a range of behaviours that can be defined as any way in which one person controls and intimidates another. This is why Refuge and BBH decided to spotlight tech abuse. For while tech gets smarter the job of Refuge gets harder as domestic abusers have more tools of control at their disposal. 

The team chose to spotlight the issue of tech abuse “because of how much we all use our mobile phones.”  Kimberley Gill, Creative Director & Partner at BBH London explained; “We wanted to be able to reach as wide an audience as possible and we are all so beholden to our phones, they have such a power over our lives.” 

The team wanted the campaign to be reflective of domestic abuse in 2021 and tech abuse, where partners can exploit safety features or use the connected home to abuse their partners remotely, is one of the sinister side effects of advancements in technology. 

This kind of control is one of the fastest-growing crimes being tackled by Refuge, which saw a 97% rise in complex tech abuse cases between April 2020 and May 2021. 

Using the creative to subvert expectations 

At the heart of the campaign is a 40-second film that, at first glance, appears to be promoting a new smartphone. But as the camera lingers on the phone's elegant design and a voiceover details its features, things take a sinister turn. Maps in real-time can “keep you up to date with traffic in your area.. and her movements”, while smart home features can be used to adjust the heating and lights “even when you’re not at home, so you can control her from wherever you are”. The film ends by reminding audiences that as domestic abuse gets smarter, the job of Refuge gets harder.

At first, the film appears like a traditional tech advert and the creative team at BBH consciously wanted it to not seem like a charity ad at first. Gill explained, “We wanted to lure people in with the shiny new phone, particularly leading up to Christmas, there are a lot of tech adverts out there at the moment that are capturing audiences attention.”

The creative makes it seems like any other tech campaign but it is soon apparent that there's more to it. “We wanted to produce poster ads as well as a slick film to be out there amongst the other tech ads to lure people in but then also make sure that the rug-pull was very very clear early on and that you don’t have to wait until the very end to see that there’s a deeper message and real women being affected,” said Gill.

The creative is designed to make audiences double-take with the sinister voice-over subverting expectations and pulling audiences out of the sense of security that was created by using tech ad conventions. The team even went to such detail as to include scratches on the phone and imagery that unsettles the most observant viewers. 

It is the sinister nature of tech abuse that the creative embodies so accurately. “Who doesn’t live their life through access to their mobile phone? But there’s a dark, sinister, insidious side to technology that is increasingly being used to control, intimidate and harass women” explained King. It is this dark side that is brought to life by BBH and Refuge. 

Amplification and awareness

Beyond awareness, the campaign hopes to educate women and empower them to be able to still use their tech in a manner in which they are protected. 

“For a while now Refuge has had a lot of services and solutions to help with the issue of tech abuse but it’s not something we had shone much of a light on before,” explained Gill “While we want to raise awareness we also want women to be aware that there are solutions.” 

King added; “We are working closely with tech experts to ensure that women are given solutions so they can still use their tech.” The charity has a dedicated tech safety website with accessible tools and practical advice to ensure that women know they are not alone. 

To further amplify the message, Refuge and BBH have enlisted the help of Influencer who along with sharing the film, will hand their Instagram Stories over to Refuge for a day to highlight content showing just how far abusers will go to monitor their partners, like checking bank statements and tracking their movements outside the home. 

“There’s a younger audience of people out there that have grown up with smartphones and might not realize that they are being controlled. We hope that influencers are able to help us reach these younger people and shine a light on what is and isn’t abuse. Using tech to monitor a partner is not normal.” explained, Gill. At the end of the takeover, the influencers will reveal that Refuge is behind the strange posts, encouraging their followers to donate. 

King stresses the fact that BBH and Refuge hope that the film “reaches as many women as possible and encourages people to donate as it’s likely that the 50 years that lie ahead will be even more challenging.” 

To find out more about tech abuse please click here.

To find out more about Refuge or to donate please click here.