Equally Safe delivery plan: progress report

Deliverable 5

5.We will develop a public engagement approach to raise awareness of the scale and impact of VAWG

Delivery plan actions to help meet this deliverable:

5.1 We will develop a public facing engagement campaign to work with men and boys to challenge misogyny.

5.2 We will host a Media Summit to challenge the nature of existing media coverage of VAWG.

5.3 We will launch a targeted sextortion awareness campaign aimed at young people and the adults that work with and look after them.

Overview

A marketing campaign, co-created with young people, has been developed with the aim of engaging men and boys to challenge misogyny. It focuses on helping boys to recognise the link between harmful online content and real world impacts, encouraging them to take positive action. A secondary audience, which includes parents, carers, relatives, coaches and community leaders, is also targeted to raise awareness of the scale and impact of misogyny. The campaign launched in February 2026.

In November 2024, a powerful new campaign to help protect young people from harmful sextortion was launched across Scotland, with the Minister for Victims and Community Safety in attendance at the launch event. Funded and supported by the Scottish Government and Police Scotland, the initiative was developed and run by Fearless, the youth arm of the charity Crimestoppers. Co-created with young people, its key message was “don’t panic, don’t pay or comply and get help”.

Launched in June 2025, the second phase of the sextortion awareness campaign introduced school-based resources designed to help young people people understand, identify, and respond to sextortion.

Case study: Misogyny Marketing Campaign

Background

The campaign addresses the well-documented link between online misogynistic content and real-world harm. Research revealed that algorithms can move boys from benign content to extreme viewpoints with negative portrayals of women in minutes. While previous campaigns started important conversations, a gap was identified: a lack of activity targeting the online pipeline to misogyny and engaging boys and young men before harmful attitudes become entrenched.

Working with young people and stakeholders

Co-creation was the critical foundation of this campaign. With such a sensitive topic, it was essential that young people’s voices were at the heart of message development - we couldn’t create a campaign made by older people telling young people what to do. Girls were also included in the process, as those most affected by misogyny who would inevitably see the campaign.

The co-creation sprint revealed that boys believe they control what they see online and would resist any suggestion they’re being manipulated. Many want to do the right thing but don’t know what that looks like, and would welcome safe, simple actions. Crucially, “finger-wagging” messaging wouldn’t work — positive framing was essential.

Throughout the development of the campaign, we worked closely with a stakeholder advisory group of expert organisations in the field which was a vital element of the process.

Strategy and creative approach

Amongst the primary audience of boys aged 11-18 the message was clear: sexist online content causes real-world harm to girls, including the ones they know, and they can help stop it by choosing not to engage with it. Alongside this, there is a secondary audience of adults - particularly parents and carers - who can help educate young people about the scale of online misogyny and feel confident in starting conversations with them about the harms of misogynistic content.

The creative idea centred on “real life harm”, demonstrating that the real-world impact of sexist online content is closer to home. Testing the idea showed that this concept was familiar and powerful to the young people, prompting self-reflection: they were able to work out what was happening rather than being told, overlaying their own experiences. The call to action - to not engage - was also viewed as safe, achievable and empowering.

The co-creation process has given us confidence that the campaign will resonate with the intended audience. The emotional hook makes the message more likely to stick. Having that lived experience at the heart of the work has been essential throughout, and this launch marks an important milestone.

For more information on tackling misogyny and to access support resources from this campaign:

• Visit safer.scot/sexism for more information for young people.
• Visit parentclub.scot/misogyny for advice and guidance for parents and carers on how to start conversations about online misogyny with young people.

Reflections from the Scottish Government Safer Marketing Team

Case Study: The Journey Behind Scotland’s Youth Developed Sextortion Campaign

When I first began speaking to young people to shape the sextortion campaign, my aim was to understand what they already knew, how they felt, and what might stop them reaching out for help. As an adult and mum to teenagers, I assumed the biggest barrier would be embarrassment when an intimate image was involved. Young people told me something different. Yes, it would feel uncomfortable, but the real reason they hesitated was more serious: they believed they could be arrested for sharing an intimate image in the first place. We heard this repeatedly in early co-production sessions, and this along with other observations completely changed my direction. It showed me how essential co-production is and allowed me to build something I am incredibly proud of.

From listening to impact

Young people asked for content that felt like their world: short, fast paced, peer led and grounded in real settings. Their direction shaped the tone, the style and the channels I used.

Across two phases (Nov - Dec 2024 and Feb - Mar 2025), the campaign reached significant scale: 15.6 million impressions and 98,338 swipes to the Fearless website. Police Scotland later reported a 32.2% reduction in sextortion reports compared to the same period the year before, linking this shift to the prevention focused awareness created by the campaign. For me, this confirmed that when content reflects young people’s reality, it resonates and leads to behaviour change.

What teachers told me

At first, I did not think we needed a new education resource. High quality materials already existed. Feedback from our webinars, attended by 399 professionals including teachers, youth workers and Police Scotland colleagues, changed my view. Teachers told me that although existing resources were strong, the school day made long lessons unrealistic. They needed something short, flexible and safe that they could use in a single period or pastoral conversation, without relying on news clips or adult focused content that risked being distressing or potentially triggering. A short form resource was not duplication. It was a direct response to what teachers said they needed and would use.

Co-creating with young people

The resource was shaped entirely with young people. I co-wrote the script and filmed with five young people from across Scotland, in a variety of settings, speaking with confidence and clarity. This shows their peers that this is not a topic to be afraid to talk about. Sextortion can happen to anyone. It is never the victim’s fault, and your peers will be there for you.

Keeping momentum over summer

We launched the resource in June 2025, ahead of the holidays, when some young people may be more isolated and spending more time online. Because the campaign assets were created with young people, they still felt relevant and not dated. We reused them over the summer, achieving an additional 8.2 million impressions and 62,174 swipes. There was no fatigue with the messaging and young people continued to find them engaging.

What this journey taught me

If I had not really listened first, I would have built the wrong campaign and the wrong resource.

This campaign has helped shift how Scotland talks about sextortion and how we respond to those affected by it. For me though, I also hope it has shown that when we trust young people to lead, and honour what they tell us, we build healthier, safer communities for everyone.

Case study provided by Lyndsay McDade, Fearless National Manager – Scotland