Monaco’s Women’s Rights Committee has enlisted the help of a popular local Manga creator to confront the issue of online abuse against women in a new awareness campaign aimed at young people.  

When many people think of violence against women, they think immediately of the physical kind. Whilst this is insidious and a problem throughout the world, there is also another type of abuse that women, and men, suffer from: online violence.  

To tackle this modern issue, Monaco Communications Department has teamed up with the Principality’s Women’s Rights Committee and the talented Cédric Biscay, the writer and producer of the popular chess Manga series Blitz, to approach the problem in an equally current way ahead of the United Nations-sponsored International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, which will take place on 25th November.  

THE STORY 

Biscay has created a 25-page story centred on a group of friends, including the president of the high school chess club, Riko, and another girl called Louise.  

The group are taking fun and inoffensive photographs of each other when Louise sends one to a boy that she has a crush on. He pressures her to get racier images of Riko and, afraid of losing his affection, Louise convinces her friend to play up to the camera at a pyjama party before passing the intimate shots on to the boy.  

The boy then posts them online, humiliating Riko. When the role she has played in the deceptive act is discovered, Louise loses Riko’s friendship and trust.   

THE CAMPAIGN 

Under the slogan ‘Behind the screen, violence hits no less hard’, the story seeks to explain how online actions can have real-life consequences, and to highlight the destructiveness of digital bullying.  

The campaign was created specifically with young people in mind, with the goal of highlighting the psychological and emotional damage this type of online violence can have on victims, and demonstrating how important it is that they be considered violent despite their digital setting. 

“I firmly believe in the use of soft power to stimulate public interest in the major issues of our society,” said Biscay, who is also an Ambassador for Women’s Rights. “This collaboration with the government, via the Committee for the Promotion and Protection of Women’s Rights, is the perfect illustration of this.” 

The sentiment is reaffirmed by Céline Cottalorda, Interministerial Delegate for Women’s Rights, who said at the press conference presenting the campaign, “This medium, very popular among adolescents and young adults, was chosen to raise awareness among young people of violence against women and girls through digital technology.”  

The Manga is already available to view and download online here, and will be released in a physical paper format from 25th November. 

Click here for more information about the campaign.  

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Photo credit: Stéphane Danna / Monaco Communications Department