Join The Chorus: Unifying Global Domestic and Sexual Violence Prevention

At the NO MORE Foundation, we are dedicated to ending domestic and sexual violence through increasing awareness, inspiring action, and fueling culture change. We know that we cannot do this alone and that we need to work together to achieve this. 

Everyday, people we know share with us their experiences of domestic and sexual violence, reminding us that it is our duty to speak out and take action about these issues.

Our goal at NO MORE is simple! We are a unifier. 

Connecting advocacy agencies, activists and enabling collaborations, sharing information and providing tools to actively support them all – from the national NGO, to the individual who wants to make a difference. 

We do this by generating innovative campaigns, tools and technology that can be shared and scaled, gaining the attention of media, organizations and individuals to drive meaningful action.

Our Global Directory is an online, open-source directory of specialist domestic and sexual violence helplines and support services from over 200 countries and territories. 

At NO MORE, we know that the smallest of actions can go a long way to creating a society that does not tolerate domestic and sexual violence. 

For change to have a long-lasting impact, we need to ensure that all parts of society take action! Together, we must deliver a Whole System  Approach (WSA) to tackle the epidemic of domestic and sexual violence. 

Governments need to take an active role – from providing legislative support and sustainable funding, to delivering prevention campaigns. 

A great example of this is The Commonwealth Says NO MORE  #JoinTheChorus campaign featuring celebrities from across the Commonwealth such as FKA twigs, Rose Byrne, Joselyn Dumas, Mahira Khan and Thandiwe Newton. #JoinTheChorus calls for collective action to raise awareness of and stop domestic and sexual violence. 

It is vital that businesses, both large and small, stand up and take action too! Each one offers unique opportunities to be part of the solution. Corporate partners’ reach, resources and responsibility to their employees and customers are essential in the movement to eliminate violence.

NO MORE worked with Uber to delivered the ‘Don’t Stand By’ campaign – calling on young people to take an active role in preventing sexual violence. Crucially they have utilized the expertise of specialist services to train their customer response teams and develop tools and training for their drivers around sexual violence. 

Let’s work together with multinational companies, national corporations and local businesses to encourage them to amplify our work around awareness-raising and prevention.

Let’s call on them to consider their responsibility to their employees. Let’s enable them to reflect on their products and provide opportunities for them to adapt to prevent harm. Most importantly, let’s demand that they are part of our movement to create change. 

The advocacy work of NGOs, support agencies and activists needs to be supported, underpinned with sustainable funding and their work to be shared widely as good practice. They are enabling community members, universities, schools and parents to start the vital and important conversations around domestic and sexual violence. 

One thing that is universally true is that small but significant steps contribute to real change. We need to do it together! Our NO MORE chapters around the world are doing just this: 

Ecuador Dice NO MÁS – through their campaigning changed legislation around sexual violence, encourage survivors to come forward to access support. Their amazing SUPVivors work has recently been nominated for the UN SDG Action Awards. 

The team at Cyprus Says NO MORE, led by The Body Shop Cyprus, draftied legislation that criminalized sexist behavior and discrimination against women. 

UK SAYS NO MORE, in response to COVID-19, partnered with pharmacies and banks across the UK to activate the Safe Spaces initiative – training their staff to recognise and respond to domestic abuse disclosures and enabling their consultation rooms to become safe spaces to access confidential specialist support. Their Online Safe Spaces initiative is also featured on over 100 companies’ websites and has been accessed over a million times. 

We can do more, reach more people and have far more impact if we work together! At NO MORE we truly believe in collaboration, so I leave you with a task…promise yourself that you actively seek to work in partnership with someone you have met this week.  

And join us in saying NO MORE to domestic and sexual violence!