Case study: consumer media

Home Office

In December the Home Office launched a full public consultation to gather views, including from victims, on the issue of violence against women and girls.

The communications included a mixture of traditional press activity, consumer and black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) media, online, social media and stakeholder engagement. A key objective was to reach a young female audience who are disproportionately affected by crimes such as domestic abuse, revenge porn and stalking, as well as to reach ethnic minority communities who may be impacted by ‘honour’-based abuse.

In addition to setting up media opportunities led by the Safeguarding Minister to provide an authoritative voice, the team also worked closely with the independent Violence Against Women and Girls advisor Nimco Ali; harnessing her personal experience of female genital mutilation (FGM) and her own media profile to reach a broader audience. Nimco also played a pivotal role in fronting some of the call to action social media content. Overall social media material achieved over 1.9 million impressions.

The media team achieved over 20 pieces of unique coverage which included:

  • a minister op-ed in the Eastern Eye
  • a minister live Q&A on Mumsnet – a platform that attracts 8 million monthly users
  • minister broadcast interviews with C4 News and Woman’s Hour
  • a Nimco Ali interview with The Voice and LBC
  • partnership with Ladbible on Instagram content which led to 250,000 impressions and 4,500 people swiping through to the main survey
  • a feature in Grazia magazine

All of the media outlets we worked with included a link to the survey, with many also amplifying on their social media channels to drive further traffic.

The public survey attracted over 15,000 responses. 66% of the survey response came in the final 3 weeks which also correlated with the main bursts of media and social media activity.

Trish Keville, Home Office.