When Yeardley Love’s college relationship escalated tragically to her murder, her mother, Sharon Love, quickly discovered there were virtually no resources for young people in her daughter’s situation.
Through interviews and focus groups with survivors, families and specialists we learned victims were stuck inside an emotionally abusive cycle and were often unable to reach out for help. However, those outside the relationship were also unable to intercede because they did not recognize the warning signs. The One Love Foundation’s best hope for ending relationship violence became dependent on empowering bystanders to safely intercede.
Our awareness campaign turned a grieving mother's personal cause into a national movement to save young lives that has been adopted by the NFL and college campuses across the country.
Once the One Love Foundation began to spread awareness about relationship violence they wanted to take steps to end it. We conducted interviews and focus groups with the target audience (16-24 year-olds) to explore how best to reach, educate and persuade bystanders most at risk of relationship violence. This research reinforced our initial hypothesis, that visual storytelling, specifically film, would be the best method.
Renegade helped One Love take the next step towards ending relationship violence by building them an impactful video-based workshop for the at-risk population. This approach transformed the conversation and directly impacted more than 1OOK students nationwide.
Using what we learned about the target audience, we created an immersive short film, Escalation, that brought the warning signs of relationship violence to life. The script was drawn from real life interviews with experts, bystanders and survivors, to create a compelling and authentic depiction of how a violent relationship escalates. A workshop was created to help present the film to students and athletes, helping to activate bystanders to intervene appropriately.
Our video-based workshop helped The One Love Foundation transform the relationship violence conversation and directly impacted more than 1OOK students nationwide. The One Love Foundation's workshop program continues to build momentum, effectively turning a grieving mother's personal cause into a national movement that's saving young lives on campuses and sports fields across the country.
