In 2023, 55 women were killed by a current or former partner in Australia. That’s 1 woman every 5 days. 

But as violence against women reached epidemic levels, Australian men were simply standing by. 

White Ribbon Australia, the leading non-profit organisation combating men’s violence against women, needed to spotlight the seriousness of the issue, while preparing men to detect and prevent the more covert acts of violence that affect women on a daily basis. 

By September alone, 48,000 news articles had been published on men’s violence against women. 

So to highlight the scale of the epidemic we created ‘The Daily Issue’. A special edition newspaper that included just 1% of the 48,000 harrowing stories, laid out in chronological order from January to September of 2023. 

‘The Daily Issue’ was designed to look and feel like any other newspaper, with a shocking discovery beneath the surface. 

Inside, the articles covered every form of violence from coercion, to bribery and even financial abuse, overlaid with the real reasons men gave for standing by, unearthed by White Ribbon’s national study.  The “reasons” were typed out in a handwritten font, crafted to feel like it came directly from the hand of men who had used these exact reasons.

At 196-pages, the newspaper included 500 real articles, so thick it had to be printed at a specialised printing press. Every article was painstakingly combed through to redact names, photos and personal information to maintain confidentiality and respect for the victims. 

The back page was our space to create change. Featuring an oversized White Ribbon device that was made from statistics on men’s violence against women. A sobering wake up to men that speaking up could be the difference between saving a woman’s life versus reading her obituary. Beneath the ribbon, anyone could scan a QR code that directed them to educational tools and resources online. 

With a limited production budget, 2,000 copies were distributed to politicians, journalists, influencers and men’s groups around Australia, hoping to leverage their influence and spread our message well beyond our $0 media budget.

National coverage sent our message viral, bringing this issue to the forefront of Australia’s cultural agenda, delivering 56 million media impressions. 

The Daily Issue was ultimately our catalyst for action. A device that inspired media partners and influencers to support our campaign, generating $10.6 million in earned media.

And Australian men started to pay attention as White Ribbon Australia recorded an increase of 37% more men understanding their mission. 

But most importantly, we educated them in real time, seeing an uplift in understanding for more covert forms of violence including; 379,000 more men recognising bribery, 661,000 more men recognising financial abuse and 794,000 more men recognising coercion.

But not only did we help men to better understand the complexity of violence against women, we made them the most prepared they’d ever been to be part of the solution. Recording a 10% uplift in more men actively considering getting involved.