You might feel like as an individual, you can't make a difference to a big problem.
But as the Dalai Lama said: “If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.”
An advocacy campaign gives you collective strength - but ultimately, the more people that get behind it, the more powerful it becomes.
Here are some examples of when advocacy has worked on behalf of everyday people to create real change:
Women’s Aid: A Perfect Storm
Lockdown measures amid the coronavirus pandemic created a ‘perfect storm’ for perpetrators of domestic abuse, according to charity Women’s Aid.
In a bid to gain vital funding for support services from ministers, the charity mobilised its national network of 170 local groups. It presented robust research online on how perpetrators were taking advantage of lockdown and social distancing to abuse victims.
“This research provided valuable evidence for parliamentarians,” says the Women’s Aid report, adding that the campaign “ensured the government could not ignore the issue”.
Through this activity, primarily on social media, the charity helped gain around £30 million in emergency funding from the government in April 2020 to help tackle domestic abuse and violence against women and girls.
Continued campaigning helped secure a further £12 million in top-up funding in November of the same year.
Who Cares? Scotland: 1,000 voices
Who Cares? Scotland, which advocates for a better deal for people in care and care leavers, launched its “1,000 Voices” campaign to push for a complete overhaul of the Scottish care system.
It asked all party leaders to commit to listening to 1,000 people who had been through the care system before they were elected - and they agreed.
By giving a voice to people directly affected by an inadequate system, the charity found that politicians became willing to commit to immediate and radical change in the laws.
The then First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced at her party’s conference in 2016 that she would be launching a root and branch review of care in the country. It marked the first time an entire care system had ever been redesigned, and made it the largest review of care in 150 years, in any country across the world.
Howard League: Books for Prisoners
In 2013, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) introduced a blanket ban on books being sent to prisoners from loved ones, as part of a crackdown on ‘perks and privileges’. The Howard League received complaints, not just from prisoners and their families but the wider world.
The League’s Books for Prisoners campaign began with a letter to the MoJ signed by leading authors. At the same time a Change.org petition garnered tens of thousands of signatures and the Poet Laureate staged a reading outside Pentonville Prison.
However, ministers refused to meet with the charity. Instead the government published an open letter to the Poet Laureate outlining its reasons for refusing books to prisoners.
The charity didn’t give up. It created the hashtag #booksforprisoners and encouraged people to take #shelfies – pictures of their own bookshelves. This mobilised authors and celebrities, and encouraged supporters to send books to the MoJ.
A prisoner eventually took her case to the High Court, supported by the Howard League legal team, and the judge found in her favour. The prison rules were changed.
The campaign resulted in 84,000 prisoners being able to receive books from loved ones. It also grew the charity’s membership by 38 per cent.
But Not Maternity: Pregnant Then Screwed
Amid the pandemic in 2020, many NHS services placed restrictions on patients, including banning partners from attending antenatal care and labour for women. This continued in some areas for months into the crisis.
The charity Pregnant Then Screwed (PTS) linked up with Conservative MP Alicia Kearns to raise awareness of the issue and call for NHS Trusts to ensure women did not have to give birth and look after a newborn baby alone.
Pressure from the campaign led to the creation of fresh guidance that helped to reintroduce partners to maternity services in September 2020. However, some NHS trusts began to reintroduce the curbs.
“PTS continued the pressure on social media by highlighting which trusts were failing to lift the restrictions. Consequently, in December, the NHS issued revised guidance that stated a pregnant woman should have a person of her choosing with her at all stages of her maternity journey, and all trusts should facilitate this as quickly as possible,” said the charity leaders’ report.
