Domestic violence disproportionally effects women - over 30% of women in the United States have experienced domestic violence at some point in their lives, often insidious at the start and fatal over time. Further, there is a significant lack of access to resources due to abusers’ coercive control and enforced isolation – with less than 40% of people able to access assistance. 

To subvert this, we leveraged another shared experience of womanhood to birth innovation. We covertly placed help directly into women’s hands, shielded from the gaze of abusers, through menstrual products. Each product contains secret, self-destructive, inserts that let women know they are not alone despite their potentially dire circumstances. Within their completely unassuming exteriors, every product includes validating messaging, crafted from 3 years of qualitative research, essential links to life saving resources chosen with our non-profit partner DomesticShelters.org, safety disclaimers for accessing information, as well as information on how to contact trained advocates.

We used the ingrained practice of secrecy and discomfort around menstrual products – used discreetly, unopened by non-users, referred to in code, and hidden from on-lookers – to create a safe, realistic, space for women to find and receive help. 

That said, our strategy is to use menstrual products, classified by the FDA as medical device, as a tool for secure connection to resources – simply leveraging products that are already commonplace, vital, and shielded from the eyes of an abuser due to ingrained behaviors. Women in these situations have minimal unmonitored time, therefore safety was imbedded in every part of the design: discreet, bespoke, quick, and water soluble.

The products were distributed to over 18 different locations – colleges, foodbanks, coffee shops, transit hubs, gynecologists’ offices, and more - via a guerilla style network of women and sent into the world to change lives. 

Since launch, more than 6,000 people have been reached through Code Red, and time spent with the resources has increased 600%. This is despite an intentional avoidance of supporting marketing or publicity efforts in order to keep the initiative secret from abusers - no earned media, no social posts or mentions, and no news stories. And we hope it stays that way.

Code Red is an intentionally unheard of global first—unprecedented, Code Red illustrates the power of identifying the right space and tone for women to feel secure and safe enough to reach out. 

Take one, pass one on, save a life… Period.

NOTE FOR THE JURY:

To maintain the secrecy of the Code Red initiative, we intentionally had zero marketing or media placement promoting Code Red. We’d like this secrecy to continue for the safety of potential users. We ask for minimal public discussion around what Code Red is, the execution of the initiative, or who Code Red is reaching out to help. This would include descriptions of the initiative on social media, or other public forums. We want to keep Code Red a secret from abusers who might become aware or suspicious. There are some instances where this is okay such as housed on a website with topline information