[By Tai Le]
Content Warning: The following blog post discusses topics related to child sexual assault and abuse.
“So, Tai, what is your goal for your internship with Innova DDB? What do you want to take away from this?” Kweku asks. I rack my brain, trying to find the right answer.
So many things I could say. I want experience. I want to feel like I’ve learned something. I want to make a difference.
“I think for me, I really want to be able to learn the cultural differences and similarities between Ghana and other parts of the world. I want to understand the comms industry in Ghana and how culture affects messaging strategies. I say that I’m a global cultural communicator, and I want to continue to grow that toolbelt. I want to be able to take away a piece of my learning here and have it in my portfolio,” I responded.
The past five weeks at Innova DDB have been filled with learning opportunities. I have had the chance to sit on client meetings, brainstorming and ideation sessions, and even work on copywriting for various accounts. Being able to experience the different facets of the creative process at Innova DDB has fueled my excitement to work in the advertising industry after this internship.
Another component of the internship was developing a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) campaign. CSR work relates to a company’s efforts to improve society through volunteer work, sustainable implementations, and philanthropic work. My task was to choose a CSR project to research, brief, ideate a strategic campaign, and prepare execution propositions for Innova DDB.
What did I pick?
Before the project, I met with Fafa, the Strategy Team Lead. She presented the assignment on a behavioral change campaign: in this, we would speak to Ghanaians, understand why a particular behavior exists, and ideate how to make the change. The options were:
- Neurodiversity and neurodivergents: Mental health in Ghana isn’t very talked about, and ways can we work to build acceptance and create awareness
- Bad Uncles: Child sexual assault is a serious issue in Ghana and many African countries. Many times, the abuse is carried on by an “uncle.”
- Recycling culture: Ghana does not have a recycling system in place. Therefore, the country has large areas where trash of all sorts is just piled, polluting the surrounding neighborhoods.
I had remember a conversation with Calester, a Senior Strategic Planner at Innova DDB, about the fundamentals of strategy before this meeting. She mentioned that the goal and challenge for all campaigns at Innova DDB is to be disruptive, create sound, and do something groundbreaking.
I knew I wanted to choose a topic that would challenge society and promote positive change. From reading the title, you probably know which topic I chose: Bad Uncles. But why?
In many countries, referring to someone as “uncle” means more than someone of blood relations. Someone who is deemed an uncle could mean anything from an actual relative or a close family friend. The terms “uncle” or “aunt” are also prevalent in many cultures, like Vietnamese culture. My mom’s best friend is my aunt, and she is an extension of our family. My dad’s coworker is considered an uncle because he’s been working with my dad for years, and his kids are like distant cousins. So, these terms transcend more than blood familial relations.
Additionally in Ghana, children expressing their opinions by speaking up can be labeled as culturally inappropriate and disrespectful. Even at times, a child does not have the right to ask an adult a question but is required to answer when addressed. Many children fear being seen as outspoken, disruptive, and a “bad seed” – for fear of societal judgment and labels. This results in many acting timid, complacent, and tolerant when sexual assault occurs. There needs to be education tools where sexual assault victims understand that being outspoken about their livelihoods and situations with “bad uncles” is not a cultural sin or a sign of disrespect, but the first step in justice.
That cultural teaching of respecting elders carries over to even Vietnamese culture. I remember being taught that kids who talked back to their elders were the bad ones. They were the ones that defied the rules of society. My older brother was labeled a bad kid when I was younger because he would always talk back without permission. So, I learned from an example and didn’t speak up unless asked. This fear of being punished for speaking back made me complacent when I had something to say.
This feeling is what many children in Ghana face when they are dealt with sexual abuse from an uncle.
Consequently, though, there have been countless accounts of child sexual abuse enacted by an “uncle” in these countries. Many children do not disclose their experiences of sexual abuse due to socio-cultural factors such that taboo of disrespecting an adult and the fear of disbelief. As a result, most end up waiting until they are adults to discuss and report their lifelong trauma – internalizing their trauma for many years.
This campaign meant so much to me because this could happen to anyone. Anyone of the kids I know, anyone that was once a kid.
Tasked with a mission and a team of creatives, I got to work! The campaign project started with creating an Aha! Brief. This brief is a guideline that details the campaign for the creatives to work on. Without being wordy, the document provided the campaign’s background, target audience, task, objectives, insights, and theme/messaging. Think of it as a cheat sheet or the SparkNotes of agency work. This was later presented to the strategy team for feedback and comments. The feedback allowed me to hone in on my target messaging and determine precisely what I wanted to accomplish.
Afterward, the next step was to research and survey. As strategic communicators, it’s important that everything we say, write, and do is backed by strategy and research. Using the tools and skills learned in my master’s program, I was able to put together secondary research that delved deeper into how Ghanaian culture and child sexual abuse correlated. If we had more time, I would have been able to collect data with primary research. Andrew from the research and analyst team and I had developed primary collection methods, but, given the time constraints, we had to stick with secondary research (specific data already collected from other researchers).
Through this research, we found that the local district of Teshie has the highest levels of poverty and high incidences of child sexual assault. 43% of the victims live with single parents, with the main factors of increased sexual assault being financial challenges and poor parent-child relationships. Financial challenges would cause a parent to rely on outside help for financial support – leading to the introduction of someone else who would be considered an “uncle.” Poor parent-child relationships would lead a child to feel they couldn’t tell their parents about a sexual assault incident.
Another insight that helped substantiate focusing on “bad uncles” is when we found that 43.9% of perpetrator relationships were from neighbors. In the Ghanaian context, these neighbors are those considered “uncles” and “aunties.” Many parents expressed their guilt and fear of getting the perpetrator in trouble with law enforcement because, in Ghana, child sexual abuse is considered a first-degree felony with 5 – 27 years of imprisonment.
27.6% of these perpetrators use a confidence approach to their victims – gaining their trust and then gaining control over them. 23.4% of the victims reported a blitz approach was used, where violence was the form of sexual assault. And, 12.9% of victims reported that enticements of gifts and money were used to coerce the victims. These numbers all show that the campaign should firstly, educate parents and children.
After research, I again presented the findings to my team and readjusted my campaign’s direction. Some new insights helped the campaign understand that the idea of respect and gaining favor from elders is one of the reasons why children were assaulted. Those who are more naive and innocent while “respecting their elders” were more at risk of being abused. This is because they fear accusing an adult of doing something and being “in trouble.” My co-workers have brought up instances when a parent would say,
“Shush! You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Why would your uncle do that? That’s absurd.”
“Your uncle is just like that.”
“Why did you put yourself in that situation? You should know better!”
“Do you want to get your uncle in trouble? Shush, child.”
At times, they are putting the child in denial and at risk for physical and mental health endangerment by suppressing their assaults.
My campaign’s role was to encourage parents and children to speak up when something is wrong. In this sense, it’s a double message. Children need to feel supported to speak up about what is happening, and parents need to speak up to defend their children. There needs to be systemic tools and skills that are taught to parents and children in identifying the signs and methods of preventing sexual assault before and how to report when something does happen.
What needs to go: Saving face and trying to protect the perpetrators and their reputations. Parents and children should not feel guilty when speaking up and getting an “uncle” in trouble.
After this, we came back as a team to identify the “Big Idea” – the driving force behind our campaign. After several brainstorming sessions, we landed on:
No SH. No SHame. Just SHout!
The SH here would be the “shush!” that adults say to children when they talk back without permission. The Big Idea helps align the campaign and the executions to the deliverables. For the execution and presentation of this CSR, I was expected to have the following deliverables:
- 2 Key Visuals (social media graphics) – to be worked on with our design creative
- 2 Radio Copies – written copy for radio commercial scripts
- Radio is one of the top media still consumed in Ghana, so it’s important to utilize is strategically
- Social Media Activation Ideas – ideas and sample copy for activations
- Jingle – a song that helps teach and encourage children and parents to stop “bad uncles.”
- Similar to the rape prevention song that many Americans learned in school, “Hey! Don’t touch me there; that is my no-no square!” But, a Ghanaian version.
So, that is where I am currently at. I am working on my deliverables, piecing them together in an excellent package to be presented on my final day at Innova DDB, this Friday. I am having an incredible learning experience working through the ins and outs of a Ghanaian agency. Rather than focusing on the differences, I’ve been able to take every day as an opportunity to learn how to be impactful and disruptive in communications.
Stay tuned for my campaign reveal!
Medaase,
Tai Le