“No es de Hombres” (“That’s Not Manly”): a Campaign for Gender Equity in Mexico

Abstract

Mexico faces a gender inequality issue stressed by sexual violence against women. There is a high probability that Mexican women experience violence throughout their lives, especially in public transport services. The campaign “No es de Hombres” (“That’s not manly”) was created to build a cultural change to tackle the harassment practices suffered by thousands of women and girls in Mexico City’s subway. It was launched in 2017 by the Mexican Government with the support of the United Nations Organization, the J. Walter Thompson (JWT) agency, and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation financing. Through social marketing strategies, it was possible to reflect the most common forms of harassment and aggression faced by women in public transport, reaching a high impact. Winner of the “Sol de Bronce” award from the Ibero-American Festival of Advertising Communication, it was evaluated as a powerful communication tool that transcends the perception of sexual harassment in Mexico.

FormalPara Learning Objectives

• 1. Understand the concept and purpose of social marketing through a case study.

• 2. Identify a case of social marketing related to SDG 5 (Gender Equality).

• 3. Examine the situation of gender violence and analyze the social marketing campaign carried out to solve it and educate people.

1 Introduction

Regarding the problems that interest and involve the world population, it is possible to refer to those debated in international organizations according to their importance for the nations. In the context of social progress for a more peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable life, the member countries of the United Nations (UN) have agreed to establish 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). One of the most important objectives in Latin American countries is the one that refers to gender equality. According to the United Nations Development Program in its report for Latin America and the Caribbean 2010, Latin America includes 10 of the 15 countries with the highest levels of inequality. Public safety is a primary concern, as new forms of violence against women and femicide are increasingly common. In the 2019 Human Development Report published with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) was stated that along with climate change, gender inequality and violence continue to cause and consolidate gaps, and new ones are emerging. Having equal rights for men and women is equivalent to having gender equity, including equal access to resources and services. Mexico is among the Latin American countries with the highest inequalities in this regard. The gender gap is increased by sexual violence against women in this country. The National Survey on the Dynamics of Relationships in Households shows that 66% of women have suffered violence at least once (ENDIREH, 2016).

This vulnerability increases when accessing to public transport services. According to the Survey on Sexual Violence in Transportation and Other Public Spaces in Mexico City, 72.9% of women who have suffered an act of violence referred to the subway as the main place where these types of acts occur (one or more of the acts suffered by them) (ONU Mujeres, 2018). Mexico City subway is the place with the highest rate of sexual violence against women. For that reason, within the “Let’s Travel Safely on Public Transport program,” the campaign “No es de hombres” (“That’s not manly”) was launched to generate a cultural change and also to reduce the harassment practices that thousands of women and girls suffer every day.

Launched in 2017 by Mexico City’s Government with the support of the United Nations Organization, the J. Walter Thompson agency, and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation financing the campaign “No es de hombres” (“That’s not manly”) reached an unprecedented high impact. Through social marketing strategies, it was possible to reflect the most common forms of harassment and aggression faced by women in Mexico City’s subway. The campaign’s objective was to “denormalize” sexual violence against women on public transport and generate empathy among men.

2 Case Development

2.1 Campaign Background “No es de Hombres” (“That’s Not Manly”)

According to official data from the Collective Transportation System (CTS), in the year 2000, based on continuous complaints from women, the Mexican authorities decided to separate the wagons of Mexico City’s subway for the exclusive use of women and girls. The Mexico City’s Mobility Regulations established the exclusive use of wagons in Mexico City’s subway. Invading cars exclusively for women in any of the 12 lines of the CTS causes some penalties by the Law of Civic Culture (Art. 29 Fraction XI and Art. 31), which ranges from 25 to 36 hours of arrest or from 12 to 18 hours of community service.

This campaign was launched after several preceding efforts. On October 4 of 2007, the Distrito Federal Government launched the “Harassment Zero” program, which included assigning one third of the train for exclusive use of women, children under 12, and handicapped persons.

Later, the “Let’s Travel Safely on the Public Transport” program was implemented and recognized as a pioneer program in Latin America according to institutions such as ECLAC, UN Habitat, and UNIFEM (Martínez & Micher, 2016). This program was inaugurated on October 4 of 2007, to prevent, address, and punish sexual violence against women who travel on public transport in a timely and effective manner, promoting women’s rights, social development, law enforcement, citizen attention, and vigilance. This program brought together various actions to prevent, attend to, and access justice. Therefore, as of January 2008, the service of Attention Modules for Cases of Sexual Abuse began in different stations of the subway (Inmujeres, 2012).

In 2013, the Mexico City’s Government and UN Women signed the Memorandum of Understanding. Both parties committed to jointly carrying out inter-institutional actions related to technical cooperation, programs, and projects for women’s empowerment and gender equality that contribute to the implementation of international commitments on women’s human rights.¹

With the signing of the memorandum in March 2015, Mexico City joined the UN Global Initiative “Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces.” By doing so, the Mexico City’s Government (through the Institute of Women of Mexico City and UN Women) implemented a joint work scheme to carry out diagnoses and measures for the preparation and implementation of a program aimed at preventing and addressing sexual violence against women and girls in public spaces and transport (Inmujeres, 2017; ONU Mujeres, 2015).

On April 24, 2016, various social organizations marched in Mexico City to make visible, questioning and denouncing all the violence of which women are victims every day (Paullier, 2016). After this historic march, the Government of Mexico City implemented the 30/100 Strategy, which responded to the claims raised by women on April 24. This march intended to demand security, freedom, and respect for their rights and freedoms in public spaces and transportation, with the commitment to deliver results and be accountable to citizens within 30 and 100 days. Its objectives concentrated on five axes: (1) The safety of women and girls in their transfers and trips on public transport; (2) Attention to victims; (3) Access to justice; (4) Social participation in the promotion of the right of women to live without violence and safe mobility in Mexico City; and (5) The communication of the measures and the promotion of the complaint. These lines of action were a result from the program presented in 2015 (Secretaría de las Mujeres, 2016).

A year after the “National March against Violence against Women,” whose slogan was #VivasNosQueremos (#WeWantOurselvesAlive, in English), the National Institute of Women (Inmujeres) of the Mexico City and the Subway Collective Transportation System (STC) issued a commemorative ticket. The institutions promoting this issue endorsed with this ticket the commitment that the Mexico City’s Government maintains through security and transportation entities to eradicate all types of violence against women and girls (Secretaría de mujeres, 2017). The campaign “No es de Hombres” (translated into English as “That’s not manly”) was launched by UN Women Mexico on March 21, 2017. This campaign was supported by the advertising agency J. Walter Thompson and financed by the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation for Development (AECID). This campaign was launched within the framework of the UN Women Global Program Cities and Safe Public Spaces for Women and Girls, implemented in Mexico City (CDMX).

2.2 The Campaign “No es de Hombres” (“That’s Not Manly”)

2.2.1 Objectives

To contribute to the fight against gender violence, primarily regarding the issue of “sexual harassment,” the campaign “No es de Hombres” (“That’s not manly,” in English) had a general objective: “denormalize” sexual violence against women in public transport and generate empathy among men; having four specific objectives (ONU Mujeres, 2020): (1) Generate conversation, public debate, and awareness around the issue of sexual harassment and other forms of sexual violence against women and girls in public spaces, with emphasis on public transportation; (2) Contribute to preventing and reducing sexual harassment and other forms of sexual violence suffered by women and girls in public spaces, focusing on the conduct of men; (3) Contribute to generating changes in cultural practices on sexual harassment, specifically in the behavior and attitudes of men, and (4) Promote a zero-tolerance culture and call witnesses and victims of sexual violence to action in the public transportation in Mexico City. These objectives were aligned with the framework of the Mexico City’s UN Safe Cities program (ONU Mujeres, 2020).

2.2.2 Target Audience

This campaign was addressed to men between 20 and 50 years of age, from different socioeconomic strata, and regular users of public transport in Mexico City (ONU Mujeres, 2020). The campaign mainly sought men’s empathy, especially from those identified as “switchers” (those who can change if they know that their behavior is a form of sexual violence and has an impact on women’s lives) (ONU Mujeres, 2020). Although, the campaign did not exclude the rest of the men.

Before its implementation, the campaign was presented to various civic organizations, well-known feminist activists, journalists, and researchers. Their perceptions and recommendations were integrated into the campaign. Such elements were tested and analyzed with men of different ages and socioeconomic levels (ONU Mujeres, 2020).

2.2.3 Phases

According to the official report, the “No es de Hombres” (“That’s not manly”) campaign was divided into two phases. The first phase began on March 21, 2017. It consisted of two experiments (ONU Mujeres, 2020):

• 1. Screens: Videos were launched through several social media platforms, in which experiments showed the acceptance of different forms of sexual violence that women suffer daily in public transport. For example, a video exposed a man’s buttocks while waiting to board public transport with the phrase “Thousands of women suffer from this every day.”

• 2. The awkward seat: An exclusive seat was located for men on line 7 of the subway, simulating the parts of a naked male body. The backrest was the torso and the seat was designed as it had two legs with the respective male genitalia.² This seat had a plaque with the phrase: “It’s annoying to travel here, but it doesn’t compare to the sexual violence suffered by women in their daily commutes.” This phase sought that men could feel what women experience every day (empathy); the experiment went viral on social networks in record time (ONU Mujeres, 2020) (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1

The uncomfortable seat. Source: ONU Mujeres (2020)

The second phase was launched on March 30 of 2017 and lasted three months. This phase showed the institutions that supported the campaign: UN Women, Mexico City’s Government, and the J. Walter Thompson Advertising Agency (JWT). This second part of the campaign consisted of advertising posters with messages about the sexual violence suffered by women (Fig. 2). Such messages included phrases with different types of harassment suffered by women and girls as part of men’s families and circles of friends. Likewise, the campaign posters invited women to report abuses to the 911 telephone number. These signs could be found in Mexico City’s Subway, Metrobus, under bridges, and at bus stops. There were placed 219 advertising areas in 70 stations on ten lines of Mexico City’s subway (ONU Mujeres, 2020).

Fig. 2

Posters with messages about the sexual violence suffered by women. Source: ONU Mujeres (2020)

Translation:

This is the way they look at your girlfriend every day.

This is the way they look at your girlfriend every day.

This is how they look at your female classmate every day.

This is how they look at your daughter every day.

This is how they look at your mom every day.

This is how they look at your sister every day.

Sexual violence is a crime and can land you in jail. Respect.

2.2.4 Place

It focused mainly on 10 of the 12 subway lines, in a total of 70 stations that included 219 free advertising spaces (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3

Advertising on the subway. Source: ONU Mujeres (2020)

2.2.5 Broadcast Media

The campaign was promoted through social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube; in addition to international mass media such as El Mundo, People, Le Figaro, BBC, EFE, The New York Times, Fox News, Elle, Cosmopolitan, Playground, The Sun BuzzFeed, CNN, and Forbes.

2.2.6 Scope

In less than a week, the “awkward seat” experiment racked up more than 800,000 views. In general, the statistics showed that it was an unprecedented campaign, along with the coverage of 623 articles in the media, both national (El Universal, Radio Formula, Reforma, Televisa, Tv Azteca, La Jornada, Grupo Imagen) and international news from around 16 countries (Le Figaro, BBC, EFE, The New York Times, Fox News, Elle, Cosmopolitan, Playground, CNN, and Forbes). Therefore, the campaign reported that around 12.7 million dollars were saved in media (social networks, press, radio, and television). As for social media, the campaign obtained 654,647 interactions on Facebook. On Twitter, 141, 382,678 people generated 23,951 Tweets, and the hashtag #NoEsDeHombres on Twitter was a trending topic at least three times between March 21 and May 31, 2017. On the other hand, the videos reached 45 million views on YouTube and other social media (ONU Mujeres, 2020).

In the same year of its launch, this campaign was awarded the “Sol de Bronce,” from the Ibero-American Festival of Advertising Communication. Influencing through empathy how sexual harassment is perceived. The campaign fed specific segments of the society on social media, mainly the public that is more alert and aware of this problem, as well as some audiences with ideologies opposed to gender equality.

2.2.7 Assessment

The campaign’s effectiveness was assessed using multiple methodologies and mutually reinforced. It allowed the evaluation of different parts of the campaign. This evaluation involved organizations such as Analytics (UN Women/JWT), the Institute of Social Research, Kantar Millward Brown, Data Cívica, and external consultancy. The evaluation team consisted of the central components of the campaign, among which stands out the UN Women (2020): (1) Media and digital results of the campaign (Analytics). (2) Pre-campaign/baseline survey and post-campaign survey (quantitative analysis). (3) Group sessions (focus groups) for qualitative evaluation. (4) Neuroscience Analysis (intuitive associations) to know the intuitive response around the campaign materials. (5) Analysis of social media (Social Listening) on digital conversation (qualitative analysis).

Additional components included the (1) Analysis of institutional records on complaints of sexual harassment. (2) Interviews with the different actors involved in the design, execution, and evaluation of the campaign. The evaluation criteria included diffusion/notoriety, relevance/pertinence, efficacy, impact, efficiency, gender equality/human rights, and sustainability. All these evaluation guidelines and criteria are aligned with the evaluation policy of UN Women at the global level (ONU Mujeres, 2020).

In 2018, a year after launching the “No es de Hombres” (“That’s not manly”) campaign, different reports were published on its achievements. These indicated that the campaign generated a positive change in common and normalized perceptions, attitudes, and harmful behaviors on sexual harassment against women.

This campaign reached 28% of the population of Mexico City’s subway, equivalent to an approximate estimate of 1,812,701 people (895,239 men and 917,462 women), positively influencing changes in the previous perception they had regarding sexual harassment (Villaseñor, 2018).

Professor Pérez³ affirms that this campaign was a victory because it admitted that violence against women exists and that the perpetrators are, potentially, the men who read the advertisement. At the same time, it was also symbolic as it did not mean a change in the incidence of those same crimes that sought to attack (Torreblanca, 2018).

2.3 Subsequent Campaigns

In August of 2017, the campaign “It is not the same” was launched and developed by the French publisher Larousse with signs that informed the user about the meaning of the words or create awareness about them. The motto of this editorial enclosed phrases such as “No means No,” “Bonbon is a sweet fluffy candy, not a woman,” “Repulsion is what you provoke when you harass someone,” and “A skirt is a female garment that should not be worn with fear.” This marketing campaign applied the fact: “knowing changes your life.”

In 2019, the Mexico City’s Government launched the campaign “Stop violence against women.” It scattered through visual signs in the subway and on social media with the hashtag #DateCuenta (“Realize,” in English). This campaign focused not only on the desire to eradicate sexual violence in Mexico City’s subway, but also in the metrobus and the Passenger Transportation Network, in trolleybuses, and in the light railway. It indicated the sanctions and reasons why the women’s and girls’ wagons have been separated, motivating respect. Thus, the objectives of this campaign extend to problems of gender violence at home, at work, and in public spaces.

In March of 2021, the “No is No” campaign was launched in Mexico City’s subway, to emphasize the separation of wagons that are exclusively for women and girls. Signs with the phrases “No is No” and “Behind the line” were placed on sticky mats.

3 Conclusions

After almost ten years of the realization of programs, care modules, communications, initiatives, and marches of different institutions and entities in Mexico City, the campaign “No es de Hombres” (“That’s not manly,” in English) was successfully launched to fight against gender violence experienced by women and girls in public transport. It is admirable that the efforts of national and foreign institutions have been brought together to develop this initiative. This campaign consisted of two phases that were adequate to reach its target audience (men from 20 to 50 years of age): the first of these phases consisted of the spread of videos on social media and the uncomfortable seat on a subway line. The second phase developed posters with messages alluding to sexual violence. These posters were placed in significant influx areas in public transport to avoid attacks of sexual violence against women and girls.

Although all the actions had high exposure in the media, the dissemination of the videos through social media and posters was the most successful. The first reached more people, not only in Mexico City but throughout the world. The second phase promoted awareness among men by showing them images with phrases of what the women and girls in their family members or friends may be experiencing. Therefore, the combination of both actions achieved a greater extension of the message promoted by the campaign, thereby extending its importance.

The campaign obtained the “Sol de Bronce” award in the same year it was launched, which indicates its great relevance and scope. Using various communication evaluation methods helped to achieve its goal. One of the most outstanding achievements of this campaign was the convenient placement of posters about the risk for women in the main areas of public transport.

Although to achieve gender equity there are diverse elements that need to be trained, this example was chosen because it carefully analyzed sexual harassment. Unfortunately, this case indicates that gender violence is a reality many women still suffer, not only in Mexico City. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the impact and evolution of society after this campaign. It is necessary to know if more actions are required to help raise awareness about the seriousness of harassment and gender violence that is suffered not only in public transport but in various areas of the society that affect its expansion.

After analyzing this case, it is clear that social marketing is an effective tool that can obtain successful results, especially if its message wants to change actions. However, to allow the measurement of these results, information that provides feedback is required, which will guide the actions to achieve the purpose of similar campaigns.

4 Discussion Questions

Question 1—What impact did the campaign “No es de Hombres” (“That’s not manly,” in English) have on the rates of violence against women?

Question 2—What previous or simultaneous actions to the campaign “No es de Hombres” (“That’s not manly”) may have added or subtracted its impact?

Question 3—In line with the previous question, what factors could be added to create a social marketing strategy that reduces sexual harassment as gender violence?

Question 4—Under the previous context and background, Was the audience of this campaign convenient? Do you think that this segment addresses the root problem? Why?

Question 5—Are there gender equality problems in your city or country? If your answer is affirmative, continue answering the following: Have similar or different campaigns been carried out in your city or country? What social marketing strategies and what actions do you propose to develop an intervention in favor of gender equality in your area of residence?

Teaching/Classroom Notes

1.1 Synopsis

Mexico faces a gender inequality issue stressed by sexual violence against women. There is a high probability that Mexican women experience violence throughout their lives, especially in public transport services. The campaign “No es de Hombres” (“That’s not manly”) was created to build a cultural change to tackle the harassment practices suffered by thousands of women and girls in Mexico City’s subway. It was launched in 2017 by the Mexican Government with the support of the United Nations Organization, the J. Walter Thompson (JWT) agency, and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation financing. Through social marketing strategies, it was possible to reflect the most common forms of harassment and aggression faced by women in public transport, reaching a high impact. Winner of the “Sol de Bronce” award from the Ibero-American Festival of Advertising Communication, it was evaluated as a powerful communication tool that transcends the perception of sexual harassment in Mexico.

1.2 Potential Audience and Instructor’s Material

This case study can be analyzed by college and postgraduate students, mostly in programs that include content related to Strategic Marketing, Social Responsibility, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

1.3 Learning

• 1. Understand the concept and purpose of social marketing through a case study.

• 2. Identify a case of social marketing related to SDG 5 (Gender Equality).

• 3. Examine the situation of gender violence and analyze the social marketing campaign carried out to solve it and educate people.

1.4 Time frame for Class Discussion

First, it is suggested to carry out a class session (50 minutes) reading and assimilating the case based on the teacher and student interaction. After a research assignment, a second study session is suggested to discuss the questions posed. Contexts with similar problems could enrich the discussion in such an analysis. Some guidelines for answering the overhead questions above are listed below.

1.5 Suggested Discussion Questions

Question 1—What impact did the campaign “No es de Hombres” (“That’s not manly,” in English) have on the rates of violence against women?

Question 2—What previous or simultaneous actions to the campaign “No es de Hombres” (“That’s not manly”) may have added or subtracted its impact?

Question 3—In line with the previous question, what factors could be added to create a social marketing strategy that reduces sexual harassment as gender violence?

Question 4—Under the previous context and background, Was the audience of this campaign convenient? Do you think that this segment addresses the root problem? Why?

Question 5—Are there gender equality problems in your city or country? If your answer is affirmative, continue answering the following: Have similar or different campaigns been carried out in your city or country? What social marketing strategies and what actions do you propose to develop an intervention in favor of gender equality in your area of residence?

1.6 Analysis

Answer to Question 1—What impact did the campaign “No es de Hombres” (“That’s not manly”) have on the rates of violence against women?

• “No es de hombres” (“That’s not manly”) had a high impact on raising awareness of the violence suffered by women in Mexico City’s public transportation systems. This campaign reached, through different media and social networks, more than 50 million people around the world, which is in line with its objectives. However, and despite the scope and importance of this campaign, there were previous and alternative efforts that, in principle, block a completely objective evaluation of the impact of “No es de hombres” (“That’s not manly”), concerning the registered harassment statistics.

Answer to Question 2—What previous or simultaneous actions to the campaign “No es de Hombres” (“That’s not manly”) may have added or subtracted its impact?

• These types of campaigns are launched where different factors coexist corresponding to the context, culture, education, or situation. For example, analyzing if there were several campaigns implemented in the same place and time to assess whether they were compatible with the “No es de hombres” (“That’s not manly”) campaign. Or how much could they have subtracted from the attention and impact on it, for pursuing different purposes.

Answer to Question 3—In line with the previous question, what factors could be added to create a social marketing strategy that reduces sexual harassment as gender violence?

• For example, we suggest strategic alliances between the government and entrepreneurs that encourage collaborators and employees of the centers identified as those with the highest risk. Additionally, a factor to be carefully analyzed is the development and implementation of new information technologies that monitor in real time this gender violence.

Answer to Question 4—Under the previous context and background, Was the audience of this campaign convenient? Do you think that this segment addresses the root problem? Why?

• The campaign “No es de hombres” (“That’s not manly”) targeted men between ages 20 and 50. This campaign excluded males under the age of 20. A future strategy to raise awareness and decrease the problem would be to create this kind of campaigns for teenagers.

Answer to Question 5—Are there gender equality problems in your city or country? If your answer is affirmative, continue answering the following: Have similar or different campaigns been carried out in your city or country? What social marketing strategies and what actions do you propose to develop an intervention in favor of gender equality in your area of residence?

• If there are pending issues regarding gender equity in your city or country, you can propose a social marketing strategy according to the place, and the precise problems you have. For example, if there is evidence of a discrimination problem due to gender, you would have to inquire about the causes, contextual, cultural, political factors, etc. and then be able to propose an ideal strategy.

Additional Activity Suggested—The Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System (https://www.gob.mx/sesnsp) offers information on violence against women. Take statistics from before and after the intervention “No es de Hombres” (“That’s not manly)” and compare the means (t-test) to identify if there was a decrease in the rate of gender violence and if this was statistically significant. Consider these points and develop an intervention proposal for gender equality in one area.