free a girl MOVEMENT
Helping survivors of child prostitution become lawyers and prosecutors so they can bring those responsible to justice.
_
It’s rare in this industry to see an idea turn into something that keeps going long after the campaign ends. School for Justice became one of those rare ones. What started as a project turned into a real school that’s still changing lives today.
India has more underage girls in prostitution than any other country. Yet the number of prosecutions against the criminals behind it remains shockingly low.
School for Justice set out to change that. So instead of just talking about the issue, we decided to do something about it. The idea was to help girls who had been rescued from trafficking become lawyers and prosecutors. To give them the education and support they’d need to fight the system from within and go after the people who once controlled their lives.
The School for Justice was founded in 2017 in partnership with one of the top law universities in India. A second opened in 2019, and then a third in Nepal.
* For safety reasons, we don’t name the university or the students.
The students follow a five-year education to become lawyers or public prosecutors with the determination to challenge India’s legal system from within.
From victims to justice seekers.
We launched the campaign with a film that told the story behind the school and directed people to a website where they could learn more, read the girls’ stories, and support the cause.
To establish the school as a credible institution, we built the branding around the visual language of law and academia. It needed to look and feel like a real law school, because it is one.
A cause to support.
The conversation was fueled and endorsed by powerful voices like Bollywood actors like Mallika Sherawat and Anupam Kher, Supreme Court lawyer Meenakshi Arora, and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai.
We followed up with two more films to keep the conversation going and reach more people through social media.
School for Justice helped break the silence around a subject that’s too often ignored. It struck a nerve in India, and the world began to listen.
Today, more schools have opened, more girls are studying, and slowly, a broken justice system is starting to feel less untouchable.
See Credits +
Agency: J. Walter Thompson Amsterdam
ECD: Bas Korsten
CDs: Friso Ludenhoff, Maarten Vrouwes
Art Director: Güney Soykan, Maarten Vrouwes
Copywriter: Friso Ludenhoff
Awards
D&AD - Impact - Education: Black Pencil
D&AD - Impact - Humanitarian Aid: Wood Pencil
D&AD - Integrated: Graphite Pencil
Cannes Lions - Direct: Gold Lion, Shortlist
Cannes Lions - Titanium: Shortlist
Cannes Lions - Outdoor: 2 Shortlists
Cannes Lions - PR: Shortlist
Cannes Lions - Glass: Shortlist
LIA - Non-Traditional: 2 Golds
Epica - PR: Silver
Epica - Media Innovation, Altenative Media: Bronze
Spikes Asia - Promo & Activation: Silver
Spikes Asia - Direct: Silver, Bronze
Creativity Awards - Best Work For Good: Finalist
The Sabre Awards South Asia - Not for Profit: Gold
ADCN - Integrated: Nomination
ADCN - PR & Influencer: Nomination
ADCN - Brand Activation & Experience: Nomination
ADCN - Next: Nomination
ADCN - Craft: Nomination