Awareness

“From Awareness to Accountability.” 

Such is the theme of the 2020 16 Days Campaign, informed by a lack of results and change after years of activism and wide-ranging actions to implement change. 

But what is “awareness,” after all? 

Raising awareness means informing and educating people about issues with the intended objective of influencing behaviours in favour of the accomplishment of a goal. 

Or at least trying to. 

Indeed, as health-related awareness days, international days of [insert issue here], and awareness campaigns multiply, the question of whether informing the public to motivate change is effective has risen. 

Raising awareness, as Ann Christiano and Annie Niemand wrote in 2017, is founded on the assumption that lack of action is due to a lack of knowledge. This assumption has proven itself not to be reflected in reality.

In short, knowledge does not create behavioural change. 

And most certainly COVID-19 has opened the eyes of some to this fact. Christiano and Niemand knew of that back in 2017, and they were most likely not the only ones to understand that. But some news travels slowly. 

Organizations now confront the complex task of creating awareness that would lead to change. This involves strategizing communications that demands working around known facts about human psychology and cultural assumptions, in a time where attention spans are limited and the space saturated. This requires resources that not all organizations have. 

So, what if the purpose of your awareness efforts is to actually inform the public? Would it be acceptable to set a low bar? 

In a manifestation of pure hypocrisy, after having exposed the limitations of awareness, this is the goal I embrace as I am putting together this 16 Days Campaign blog series. Just sharing information. 

After all, letting people know the state of gender-based violence in Canada is in line with a part of what Servicewomen’s Salute does. Shining a light on what is unknown, or at least giving a voice to what is remaining in silence. From posting about Canadian servicewomen and veterans of the past and the present to sharing about gender-based violence. Embracing the too many awareness days and campaigns.  

On gender-based violence. A topic addressed from the sidelines affecting many who remain in silence. 

Creating awareness that calls for action is extremely complex, especially when dealing with societal issues as complex as gender-based violence. 

Then comes the question: how can you create awareness that calls for change when those who should be taking action, those who promised to take action, end up doing nothing at all? 

This is where accountability comes in, and this is a beast we will try to tackle tomorrow in about 500 words.