In 2009 – WISE partnered with Bedari, an NGO in Pakistan to replicate a proven effective awareness and sensitization campaigns that had been used previously in other districts. The project responded to an identified need to expand its work on domestic violence awareness geographically in very impoverished and illiterate or semi-illiterate communities in the district of Jhelum (Punjab).
The joint collaboration and the theatre design was focused on increasing awareness of domestic violence against women and related pending legislation. A critical component of the program was staging community theatre productions on domestic violence.
Bedari and others have found that street theater is an effective communication tool in areas where most of the population is either illiterate or semi-literate, and that inclusion of youth actors helped to attract young viewers. Staging the theater performances in multiple community locations helped reach multiple audiences efficiently in a short time period.
Bedari