Bell Bajao! (Ring the Bell!), Breakthrough’s newest campaign which asks men and boys to bring domestic violence to a halt, has already reached 124 million people!

Bell Bajao is a high profile national campaign using innovative media outreach throughout India. With the support of the Ministry of Women and Child Development and campaign ambassador and popular film star Boman Irani, the campaign was launched in August 2008. Bell Bajao! was created pro bono by Ogilvy & Mather.

360 DEGREE MEDIA CAMPAIGN:

In all its 360 degree media campaigns, Breakthrough uses innovative tools to engage youth and create a culture of human rights. Here are a few ways that Breakthrough spreads the Bell Bajao! message throughout the country:

• Television, Radio and Press: Thirty two million people have seen and heard the message of Bell Bajao! through television, radio and press. Television advertisements depict men and boys who hear domestic violence and take a minute out their everyday lives to intervene and stop the violence.
• Video Vans: Mobile vans have been on the road for 150 days, traveling 80,000 kilometers across six districts in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra and have exposed 2.7 million people to this burning issue. Innovative and interactive, the van built audience-participation through games, street theater, audio visual tools and quizzes.
• Interactive, dedicated website: Breakthrough’s ground-breaking blog on www.bellbajao.org provides a platform – previously nonexistent in India – to dialogue about domestic violence. To date, witnesses, victims and advocates have all had an open space for personal testimony and reflection.
• Leadership Training: Our Rights Advocates program embodies on-the-ground youth and community leadership training to reaffirm the message of Bell Bajao! and help Indian youth recognize and fight domestic violence in their own communities. The trainings develop the capacity and life skills of the trainers on a variety of complex like human rights, gender based violence and reproductive health. In 2008, the program trained over 100,000 people and aims to double its reach in 2009.

Bring the Bell Bajao! campaign to your community by downloading our toolkit. View, download and screen our television advertisements or hand the Bell Bajao! poster in your office or dorm room. Follow the steps below to help stop domestic violence!