This time last year headlines were filled with the news of Sarah Everard’s tragic death. On 10 March Everard’s remains were found after being attacked by Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens when she was walking home from her friend’s house.
This sparked outrage and women’s fears for their safety reached new heights, with the knowledge that even a police officer took advantage of a woman’s vulnerability and abused his position of power.
The hashtag #NotAllMen trended on Twitter while the nation grieved, with some men claiming it was unfair the way all men were being tarred with the same brush.
“Have a word with yourself, then your mates" by Ogilvy UK and the Mayor of London aims to eradicate this toxic mindset with an impactful and sadly relatable film.
It depicts a woman getting harassed by a man, who grows increasingly hostile the longer she tries to ignore his advances, while his friends stand by and watch.
The subconscious of one of the harasser’s friends tells him he should put a stop to what’s happening. "What are you doing?" he says, "you need to say something, this isn’t a joke any more."
He eventually calls out his friend for harassing her, but at this point she’s already in tears. The voiceover states: “Male violence against women and girls can start with words, but it doesn’t stop there.”
The distressing film directed by Molly Burdett through Spindle, is something many people can probably relate to, on both sides. It highlights how being a man who doesn’t harass or attack women isn’t enough, to truly argue the case for #NotAllMen they have to call out this behaviour when they see it.
It’s a powerful message that prevents men from removing themselves from the narrative and forces them to reflect.
I’ve seen a lot of men on social media sharing the film. With almost 5.5 million views on the official Mayor of London Instagram at the time of writing, it looks like this vital message might finally be sinking in.
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