Reframe the Night

Myth-busting Campaign

In 2019, we worked with Hackney Council and the City of London Corporation to develop myth-busting messaging for billboards, bus stops and public spaces around both boroughs, aimed at challenging the common myths about who is responsible for sexual violence in nightlife.

Using the concept of ‘reframing’ myths with a creative call-back to the trailblazers of the 1970s who called for women to ‘Reclaim the Night,’ we crafted these key messages to encourage nightlife lovers to see these harmful attitudes in a new light.

The public project was backed up with a series of free, open-access training events open to anyone working in the nightlife economies in Hackney or the City of London.

Doug Barrow, Chairman of the City Corporation’s Safer City Partnerships Strategy Group, said:

Sexual harassment is completely unacceptable in the City or anywhere else. It has a profound impact on the victim, affecting every aspect of their life. Many people affected by sexual violence blame themselves and question whether they could have done something differently to prevent the incident from occurring.

These views are reinforced within society by myths and beliefs about sexual harassment. Reframe the Night aims to challenge these, putting the blame and responsibility back on the perpetrator, not the victim.

Selected coverage of the project:

East London Lines: Hackney Tackles Sexual Harassment

The Morning Advertiser: Campaign to drive late-night premises to tackle sexual harassment

Key messages

The campaign encourages people to be an active bystander and challenge unhelpful attitudes or harmful beliefs, to draw an active link between these attitudes and the violence they enable.

This how we reframe the culture that leads to sexual violence in nightlife.

Samantha Mathys, Hackney Council’s Licensing Team Leader, said:

We’re thrilled to be working with the City of London Corporation and Good Night Out to launch our first campaign under Hackney Council’s new night time safety charter, Hackney Nights.

Campaigns that promote positive behaviour change, like ‘Reframe the Night’, will go hand-in-hand with training, resources and additional police presence to help protect local residents, visitors and businesses from crime and anti-social behaviour. These are just some of the ways that the Late-Night Levy is helping to promote a safer night time economy.
Local Domestic Abuse worker Olori Grace shows her support online.

Social media users #reframethenight

During the period when assets were being displayed across billboards and bus stops, social media users tweeted their photos with the hashtag to help challenge victim blaming.

Promoting active engagement with these messages helps to build a conversation that goes beyond workplace training, shifting the norms of acceptable beliefs and attitudes.