The Communication Initiative
Development action with informed and engaged societies
The Communication Initiative
After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at cila.comminitcila.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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Anti-Child-Prostitution Campaign

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The Taiwanese non-governmental organisation (NGO) Garden of Hope (GOH) developed a campaign to challenge child prostitution and the abuse of girls' and women's rights by inviting scholars, legislators, the church, the media, professionals, other NGOs, and members of the public to participate in communication-focused activities such as awareness-raising events, protest events, media events, and lobbying. This action campaign focused on engaging a wide variety of stakeholders in becoming alert to, and challenging, child prostitution in Taiwan; the ultimate aim was to eliminate the practice through the drafting and passage of a law banning it.
Communication Strategies
Because child prostitution is a taboo subject in Taiwan, organisers began by collecting and disseminating different types of information, designed to reach as many people as possible. To facilitate this process, GOH developed relationships with the media - which was a strategy for stimulating coverage of public events and thus raising awareness (challenging traditional beliefs such as the notion that sleeping with a virgin makes a man stronger). Advocacy, accomplished in part through partnership and bolstering GOH's own reputation, was also a central campaign tactic.

In more detail, GOH's participatory strategy worked on 3 levels:
  1. Building awareness and generating action at the grassroots level, with the help of volunteers - core approaches involved delivering speeches to community groups, churches, and clubs; taking part in local flea markets at which information-based flyers were distributed along with merchandise; and organising public events such as a road race (drawing 15,000 supporters) which led through one of the main red-light districts in Taipei as part of a public protest against child prostitution. Street dramas were also a key activity; in one event designed to protest the abuse of girls' rights, a parade of adults in black capes with red wigs manoeuvered wheelbarrows, each with a girl riding within it, to represent the way children are treated as disposable objects. In another event, women dressed as brides walked past a government office to generate media coverage for girls'/women's rights.


  2. Building support for legal changes (advocacy) - GOH conducted a study of the problem of child prostitution and drafted a law to ban child prostitution. The organisation then encouraged legislators to support the law, thus widening the support base to scholars, legislators and their staff. To make this lobbying more effective, GOH crafted a media strategy - this process did not involve a large media campaign but, rather, focused on the planning of events such as the street dramas described above that involved controversial questions (e.g., "should a prostitute's clients be punished") and striking images to promote debate amongst the public and in the legislature. GOH organised more than 10 hearings on the law, and kept up the pressure with press conferences and skits performed by staff and volunteers. GOH also held a petition, which was signed by 100,000 people, developed a postcard campaign in which the public was asked to check local newspapers for prostitute recruitment ads and then to report them to public prosecutors (approximately 200 cards per day were sent), and published several books of writings by GOH social workers and clients that sought to highlight the actual experiences of child prostitutes.


  3. Gaining support for the GOH - this partnership strategy piggybacked on #1, and was designed to support #2. GOH worked to build a diverse support base through the activities described above. The idea was that, "As we gained support for the issue we also established a good reputation, so eventually the government had to listen to our concerns. Such widespread support gave pressure to pass the anti-child prostitution law." GOH comments, "We published articles written by our clients and social workers and this was very moving for supporters. After the law was passed, we involved police so that the law was enforced."
Development Issues
Girls, Women, Rights.
Key Points
Founded in 1988, GOH is a non-governmental, non-profit group working to end sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, and domestic violence by offering disadvantaged girls and women services such as counseling, shelters, education, prevention, research, and advocacy services. Recently, GOH's mission has shifted from protecting girls to empowering girls.
Sources

Posting to the Changemakers listserv dated February 25 2005 (click here to access the archives); and Changemakers website.