Introduction
She Conquers was a national campaign in South Africa aiming to reduce HIV infections, teenage pregnancies and sexual based violence among adolescent girls and young women.
She Conquers
Overview
Background
She Conquers was a three-year national campaign ran by the South African Government from July 2016 to July 2019. The campaign’s stated aim was to “improve the lives of adolescent girls and young women in South Africa” by “empowering young women and adolescent girls to take responsibility for their health.” Source
The campaign attempted to achieve its aims through five primary targets (for adolescent girls and young women):
1. Decrease new HIV infections by at least 30%
2. Decrease teen pregnancies by at least 30%
3. Increase adolescent school retention rates by 20%
4. Decrease sexual and gender-based violence by 10%
5. Increase youth employment by 10%
The first phase of the campaign included activity within 22 South African districts experiencing the highest HIV burdens.
She Conquers was primarily coordinated through the South African Department of Health, in close collaboration with the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC), and DREAMS, an initiative led by the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in South Africa. The campaign also leveraged previous funding from the Global Fund, as well as KfW Development Bank in several districts.
The campaign included consultation with adolescent girls and young women, including the establishment of a nine-person youth advisory committee within SANAC. Members of the committee were selected through a two-day ‘boot camp’ workshop. Additionally, prior to the campaign launch in June 2016, campaign organizers ran a national competition for South African youth to submit a name for the campaign, of which ‘She Conquers’ was chosen.
Marketing channel mix and interventions
As a multichannel campaign, She Conquers utilized a variety of different marketing channels to deliver campaign messaging. These include its primary website, www.sheconquerssa.co.za, branded campaign social media channels including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, outdoor billboard advertising, flyers and booklets, launch events, community workshops, several branded campaign vehicles, and more.
She Conquers included a range of biomedical, sociobehavioural and structural interventions, including the creation of youth friendly check-up clinics and the integration of the campaign into the existing Integrated School Health Programme.
Detailed overview of She Conquers interventions. Source: BMJ article (2019)
She Conquers controversy and criticism
In September 2016, a billboard with She Conquers messaging was displayed in Johannesburg, with the tagline: ‘Who says girls don’t want to be on top?’, followed by ‘Complete your matric, study hard and graduate!’.
The She Conquers campaign subsequently received criticism and media attention due to billboard’s apparent sexual innuendo, with many critics claiming it could reinforce existing harmful tropes about adolescent girls and young women. The South African Department of Health responded to criticism by stating that the messaging had been “misinterpreted”, and that any sexual connotations were not intentional. Source
The campaign also received criticism for its complex messaging, complex implementation structure, and insufficient inclusion of adolescent girls and women throughout the campaign’s design and implementation. Source
“She Conquers has provided us with a space to have natural conversations about things that affect us as young women with other young women. It gives us a voice and brings enlightenment to us. For instance, most of the girls I know have tested for HIV, but none of them ever got to talk about it, until DREAMS/She Conquers came to our school.”
– Selokela Molamodi, Radio Host ay Hope Alive Radio Station
[Source: UNAIDS]
Video – News segment from the She Conquers youth boot camp
Implementation and funding
She Conquers was implemented by the South African Department of Health, in collaboration with the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) and Philia. The campaign was funded by the South African Department of Health, along with DREAMS, an initiative led by the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the Global Fund, and KfW Development Bank.
Results
No final campaign evaluation has been publically published. However, data is available from the campaign’s first 18 months (July 2016 to December 2017):
- Over 700,000 adolescent girls and young women had an HIV test
- Over 560,000 adolescent girls received sexual education
- Over 90,000 adolescent girls and young women received post-violence care
- Approximately 19,000 young boys and girls participated in violence prevention programmes
- Over 72,000 adolescent girls received support to stay in school
- Over 19,000 adolescent girls and young women attended economic strengthening programmes
Source: The BMJ.
Collateral examples
Social media channels
Resources
Official campaign resources are available at www.sheconquerssa.co.za/partner-gno-connect
- Official campaign document – PDF
- Communication package – ZIP file
- She Conquers presentation overview slides – PDF
- Visual identify guidelines – PDF
In the news
- “SHE CONQUERS”: HIV Prevention in Girls and Young Women in South Africa (2016)
- It’s not about sex: health department defends ‘girls on top’ billboard (2017)
- Department of health controversial ‘sexual’ billboard is not the first (2017)
- DREAMS and She Conquers (2018)
- She Conquers in South Africa (2019)
Research
- Tackling HIV by empowering adolescent girls and young women: a multisectoral, government led campaign in South Africa – BMJ (2019)
Cheers