Nedbank campaign breaks the silence around financial abuse against women

The UN’s annual 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children is a global campaign that acts as a rallying cry to end gender-based violence (GBV) in all of its forms.

One aspect of GBV that is often not spoken about is financial abuse, which occurs in 99% of abusive relationships. As a brand that supports the financial empowerment of women, Nedbank chose to raise awareness of this critical issue to mark the 2024 edition of #16DaysOfActivism.

To do so, Nedbank turned to its long-standing advertising agency, Joe Public, and partnered with the NGO People Opposing Women Abuse (Powa), to launch its “Money Warnings” campaign.

The campaign included Nedbank placing “warning strips” on its advertising collateral and partnering with influencers to do the same. For instance, the wording “warning: money can be used to abuse women” appeared along the bottom of the bank’s billboards.

“Through the Money Warnings campaign, we wanted to highlight the real issue of financial abuse, a form of economic control where abusers restrict victims’ access to financial resources, making them dependent and trapped in abusive situations, but we also wanted to challenge the other big players to do the same,” says Khuthala Gala Holten, co-MD of Joe Public.

“The issue of financial abuse is not just one bank’s battle. We wanted to take things even further, by giving other banks the opportunity to do their part, while positioning ourselves as the first bank to officially take a stance on the issue of financial abuse,” says Khensani Nobanda, Group Executive of Marketing and Corporate Affairs at Nedbank.

Not only did the campaign spark a nationwide conversation around a form of GBV seldom talked about, but it offered support to help victims regain autonomy and break free from the cycles of abuse by putting them in touch with Powa and directing them to a special section of Nedbank’s website, where they could learn more about financial abuse and get tips to take control of their financial independence. 

This article was sponsored by Joe Public.