THE MINISTRY FOR WOMEN AND VULNERABLE POPULATIONS (MIMP), PERU

This short animation follows a day in the life of a teenage girl named Luisa, who confides in her best friend, Alberto, about the gendered abuse and discrimination she experiences in her day. This starts a hopeful imagining of what a life free from gendered violence and discrimination would look like, and what they can both do to make this dream a reality. It’s accompanied by a teaching resource for use in educational contexts, that helps young people further explore the problem of violence against women, its causes, and what can be done to prevent it.

This video and educational resource were conceived to support Peru’s new national primary prevention strategy, guidelines and framework, which were developed in 2020 with technical support from EQI and the Prevention Collaborative. This film aims to disseminate new and complex policy ideas through storytelling and creative communications. It aims to be evidence based (drawing from Peruvian and Australian frameworks), hopeful (showing that prevention is possible) and solutions focused (helping audiences to understand what we need to do to prevent violence and that we all have a role we all have to play in prevention).

Though the story is relevant to everyone, its primary audience is young people aged 12-24 years in Peru, and their parents, teachers and supervisors.

This project follows on from an initial collaboration where, in 2020, EQI and the Prevention Collaborative provided technical support and advice to the Ministry for Women and Vulnerable Populations (MIMP) in the development of ground-breaking primary prevention policies in Peru. This work, with the support of funded the Wellspring Philanthropic Fund, contributed to the establishment of the National Strategy for the Prevention of Gendered Violence against Women, as well as the Strategic Guidelines and the Conceptual Framework.

The Strategy, Guidelines and Framework introduce new ideas around primary prevention, but there was a need to further communicate and disseminate these ideas to a broader Peruvian audience, in a way that was understandable and relevant in the context of their daily lives. This video seeks to do just that, and in the process, increase understanding of what drives violence against women and motivate audiences to participate in its prevention. In the process it hopes to change hearts and minds around gender equality in Peru, and in the process, connect with new audiences.

We worked collaboratively with the MIMP to determine the needs, audience, and requirements of the animation. A youth audience was chosen due to evidence around the critical importance of reaching young people with primary prevention messaging (this is also reflected in the key actions of the Peruvian national strategy for the prevention of gendered violence against women, Mujeres Libres de Violencia). Character-driven narrative storytelling was used to unpack the complexity of the problem of violence against women for a young audience in relevant and approachable ways.

Meaningful collaboration between Australia and Peru was central to the process. We also worked closely with a youth advisory council in Peru whose visions of a world free from violence informed the animation. A young female creative led the illustration of the animation, who was engaged and mentored through local production company, Maia Films. To ensure that the video is sustainable and can be used in an ongoing way, we engaged an educational expert to develop a guide to using the video as a teaching resource in educational contexts and support a deeper engagement with the content of the video over time.

Watch the Spanish version of the animation here.