A/HRC/17/23 raising campaign on sexual exploitation was designed on the basis of an agreement with the country’s federation of hotels and restaurants and included the distribution of material for denouncing and informing on trafficking in the establishments associated with the federation. After a 2006 study on the prevalence of forced marriage in Switzerland, the SURGIR Foundation launched an awareness-raising campaign in the French-speaking part of Switzerland to shed light on the problem and put in place a telephone helpline for victims. 37. Awareness-raising campaigns targeting vulnerable groups of women were also reported by Azerbaijan (internally displaced women), Belgium (migrant women) and Brazil (rural and forest women), among others. An awareness-raising campaign targeting remote areas was reported by Lithuania as a successful practice: advertising messages encouraging women victims of violence to speak up and seek assistance were posted on trucks and broadcasted as videos in supermarkets; the slogan and logo of the campaign with the number of a free helpline were printed on food packages; and experienced professionals from women’s crisis centres visited remote places in person to deal directly with violence situations. 38. The Native Women’s Association of Canada developed a research, education and policy initiative entitled “Sisters in Spirit” to raise awareness on the high rates of violence against aboriginal women and girls in Canada. The campaign was grounded on research that gathered data and information on the situation of aboriginal women and investigated the root causes of violence against them. The Yukon Aboriginal Women’s Council recently developed a spin-off campaign entitled “Yukon Sisters in Spirit” to research the circumstances of violence against aboriginal women in Yukon and raise awareness and educate the public. This campaign was reported to have triggered large national media interest. 39. The importance of mobilization strategies at the community level for the prevention of violence against women – with the involvement of local government representatives, community leaders, NGOs and women’s groups – was acknowledged in the in-depth study of the Secretary-General on violence against women (A/61/122/Add.1 and Corr.1, para. 344). The Women against Violence campaign was launched in Malaysia in 2001. After realizing the importance of community involvement in combating violence against women, the campaign was re-launched in 2006 to increase community awareness and promote the role of the community in preventing violence. Groups of trained community volunteers were created to provide guidance and services to victims of violence. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the We Can campaign invited individuals to become actors of change and encouraged them to share their reflections and experiences. The campaign focused on social transformation using social mobilization and public education, awarenessraising and simple and interactive communication tools. 40. Engaging men and boys to play a role in preventing violence against women, promoting positive masculinities and helping shape respectful attitudes and behaviours has been recognized as a critical component of prevention efforts. According to the SecretaryGeneral, “the struggle to transform gender relations and to eliminate violence against women cannot be successful without the involvement of men” (A/61/122/Add.1 and Corr.1, para. 346). There are promising examples of campaigns led by or targeting men and boys, some referred to by the respondents. The national campaign for the elimination of violence against women launched in Turkey in 2004 with the collaboration of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) was composed of a wide range of activities, which included the involvement of football players who wore shirts with the logo “Stop Violence against Women”, and a label reading “End violence against women” was attached to the price label on men’s garment products. In Cambodia, men and boys were engaged in a process of social attitudes changes through programmes and projects targeting them as “agents of 11

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