School for Justice
Free a Girl Movement
Issue 43 | June 2017
Agency
J. Walter Thompson Amsterdam
Creative Team
Executive Creative Directors Bas Korsten, Marcel Hartog Creative Directors Friso Ludenhoff, Maarten Vrouwes Art Directors Maarten Vrouwes, Guney Soykan Copywriters Friso Ludenhoff
Production Team
Senior Concept Producer Catherine Van Acker Concept Producer Linda Jansen Producer Sanne Kragten Screen Producer Lotte De Rooij Digital Producers Reinier Slothouber, Sandra Balke Designers Robert Harrison, Ronald Mica Production Company New Amsterdam Film Company
Other Credits
Business Director Erik-Jan Koense PR Director Jessica Hartley Connection Strategist Angelique Schreuders
Date
April 2017
Background
India had the most underage girls in prostitution in the world with an estimated 1.2 million children working in brothels. These girls, some as young as seven years old, were abducted from their homes, sold to human traffickers and often tortured to cooperate. Despite the magnitude of the problem, the amount of prosecutions against those involved was incredibly low. In 2015 there were only 55 cases that led to convictions.
One of the problems was a lack of good lawyers and judges with in-depth knowledge of human trafficking and child prostitution, which had a negative effect on the rate of convictions.
Idea
The School for Justice was a school where the victims of child prostitution in India were taught law, enabling them to prosecute the criminals responsible.
This radical approach was both a solution to a problem as well as a communications idea to boost its profile.
Supported by a PR and social media campaign, with multiple films, the School for Justice opened in India on April 6, 2017, offering the support, tuition and mentoring that young victims of prostitution needed to reach university level.
The ambition was that ultimately these women would become public prosecutors, with the power and determination to challenge India's legal system from within.
Results
The School for Justice only opened in April 2017. But the first class of many began to help rebuild lives and empower the girls to be the next generation of leaders in their field.
Our Thoughts
Creativity is the act of solving a problem. It always involves someone somewhere having an idea. Like this, which goes to the very heart of the problem to find the ingenious answer. Train young women to become the lawyers they once needed.
Because this is such a brilliant way of dealing with such a nasty issue, please, please may this be an idea with both longevity and integrity.