Zainab Iwayemi
In celebrating the International Women’s Day, IWD, Unilever, a consumer goods manufacturer, has launched an external campaign which it tagged ‘Unmute’, to encourage women to challenge the silence on domestic violence.
Speaking on the campaign and how it would help in tackling the increasing domestic violence, Aline Santos, Executive Vice President, Marketing, and Chief Diversity, Officer of Unilever noted that the organization kicks against the act of violence against women. Hence, the move to lend a voice for victims and also ensuring that the anti-human act loses its ground.
“Ensuring that victims of abuse are seen and heard is the focus of our actions marking this year’s International Women’s Day. We choose to challenge the silence on domestic violence” he said.
He added that the policy is made open for other organizations to access in other to spread the campaign. “In tackling the menace, at the top of the list is a significant first for our business. We are offering other organizations access to our Global Domestic Violence and Abuse Policy and the measures we have put in place to support colleagues who have experienced abuse.
“We hope that by sharing what we have learned shaping our policies; it will help employers that currently don’t have anything in place” he said.
Similarly, Ola Ehinmoro, Human Resources Director, Unilever West Africa, while justifying Unmute as a drive to help end the silence on domestic violence also added that the firm has in place, resources and direction to demonstrate how to identify domestic violence. “This includes a short film and a filter offering our followers on social media the option to hit the Unmute button on a post and add a selfie showing support for Unilever’s call to end the silence on domestic violence.
“Sometimes the thing that stops us from speaking out is that we feel unsure how to help out or how to ask for help. To provide colleagues with resources and direction, four in-depth training modules that demonstrate how to identify domestic abuse, provide insight on how to help someone, and give examples of how to stay safe are now available in nine different languages via Degreed” he said.
Meanwhile, recent times have seen an increase in cases of domestic female violence especially with the global pandemic which necessitated lockdown thereby making women more vulnerable to being hit by their partners.
