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This Dress Shows How Frequently Women Are Being Touched Without Their Consent
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This Dress Shows How Frequently Women Are Being Touched Without Their Consent

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Ever since the beginning of the #MeToo movement in 2017, numerous companies have been trying to jump on the wagon and address such contoroversial topics as sexual harassment and/or feminism in their ad campaigns. It’s no surprise that these companies are getting praised for using the publicity for a good cause. Recently, Swiss beverage company Schweppes teamed up with Brazilian advertisement agency Ogilvy and decided to work on their new campaign called ‘Dress For Respect,’ aimed at shedding light on the sexual harassment of women in Brazil.

‘Dress for Respect’ is a smart dress, designed with powerful sensors, that are triggered when the wearer is touched

Image credits: Ogilvy

The smart clothes were made to sense and track when and where the person wearing the dress was touched. The campaign was made to shed light on the serious issue of sexual harassment and non-consensual public touching.

The video of the ad opens up by indicating the statistics from 2016 of harassment in Brazil’s nightclubs

Image credits: Ogilvy

It states that the staggering number of 86% of Brazilian women have been harassed in clubs. As for other types of harassment, according to Agência Brasil, wolf-whistling is the most common form of public harassment of women (77%), followed by staring (74%), sexual comments (57%) and cursing (39%). In addition, almost half of the Brazil’s female population have experienced groping at least once in the year of 2016.

But the men who were interviewed before the experiment started, were skeptical

Image credits: Ogilvy

One interviewed man rhetorically asks “Who will go out on a Thursday night to just dance?,” probably implying that the women who go to nightclubs are actively looking for a sexual partner instead of just wanting to have a good time dancing. The other man comments that he thinks that the women are “just whining…about everything!” However, the video footage that was shot afterwards speaks for itself. Non-consensual public touching is still a huge problem, and not only in Brazil, but all across the globe.

During the experiment, 3 women wore the ‘smart dress’ to a nightclub in São Paulo

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Image credits: Ogilvy

Every time the three volunteers – Juliana, Tatiana and Luisa – were groped at the club, a signal from the dress was sent through WiFi to the researchers. Needless to say, the women were touched numerous times throughout this social experiment, even when they expressed their disapproval of it.

According to the data collected, the volunteers, in less than four hours, were touched 157 times

Image credits: Ogilvy

That is equal to being touched more than 40 times per hour! At the end of the video, after the evening was over, men from the club were invited to watch the footage of the experiment. Fortunately, they seemed really appalled by how rude people can be: “That’s so ridiculous,” one man commented. The other was shocked to see that a stranger was trying to lean in for a kiss with one of the women.

Watch the full commercial that Schweppes and Ogilvy collaborated on for yourself:

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Neringa Utaraitė

Neringa Utaraitė

Author, Community member

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Neringa is a proud writer at Bored Panda who used to study English and French linguistics. Although she has many different interests, she's particularly drawn to covering stories about pop culture as well as history. While not at the office, this Panda enjoys creepy movies, poetry, photography and learning how to play the piano.

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Neringa Utaraitė

Neringa Utaraitė

Author, Community member

Neringa is a proud writer at Bored Panda who used to study English and French linguistics. Although she has many different interests, she's particularly drawn to covering stories about pop culture as well as history. While not at the office, this Panda enjoys creepy movies, poetry, photography and learning how to play the piano.

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Troux
Community Member
5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Good thing they had video to show exactly how this is happening - it's not just accidental brush-ups! I hope this somehow gets through to the guys who are doing it.

diane a
Community Member
5 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yukkiest thing ever happened to me at a pub - years back -was this total stranger stuck his tongue in my ear while I was waiting to get served at the bar Ewwwww. New Years Eve

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Daria B
Community Member
5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"(...) implying that the women who go to nightclubs are actively looking for a sexual partner instead of just wanting to have a good time dancing." → Even if that were the case, it doesn't mean she choses YOU! There are tons of more attractive and respecting ways to approach a potential partner.

danielw
Community Member
5 years ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

Wait? men are pokemon now? Can I be bulbasoar? and please don't summon me. I'm just gonna hang out and get fat, thank you.

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weatherwitch
Community Member
5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ugh, that actually made me feel cold 😞 They're not gentle or accidental touches either but heavy pressure or deliberate handling Even after bring told to not touch. Every female knows this, has experienced it from a young age too but it's quite sickening to see it like this. Respect and No Means No still has a long way to go but dear Gods this is a really powerful video.

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Troux
Community Member
5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Good thing they had video to show exactly how this is happening - it's not just accidental brush-ups! I hope this somehow gets through to the guys who are doing it.

diane a
Community Member
5 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yukkiest thing ever happened to me at a pub - years back -was this total stranger stuck his tongue in my ear while I was waiting to get served at the bar Ewwwww. New Years Eve

Load More Replies...
Daria B
Community Member
5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"(...) implying that the women who go to nightclubs are actively looking for a sexual partner instead of just wanting to have a good time dancing." → Even if that were the case, it doesn't mean she choses YOU! There are tons of more attractive and respecting ways to approach a potential partner.

danielw
Community Member
5 years ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

Wait? men are pokemon now? Can I be bulbasoar? and please don't summon me. I'm just gonna hang out and get fat, thank you.

Load More Replies...
weatherwitch
Community Member
5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ugh, that actually made me feel cold 😞 They're not gentle or accidental touches either but heavy pressure or deliberate handling Even after bring told to not touch. Every female knows this, has experienced it from a young age too but it's quite sickening to see it like this. Respect and No Means No still has a long way to go but dear Gods this is a really powerful video.

Load More Comments
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