Sexual violence and harassment are shockingly prevalent in our society. Every day, someone engages in uninvited touching, like a neck massage or squeezing of the leg. Or someone has too much to drink and didn't say "No" but may not have meant "Yes."

Ontarians perceive many of these actions to be a "grey area." When it comes to the "grey area" of witnessing sexual violence or harassment, the majority of bystanders tend to be passive observers. While most say they have an obligation to intervene in cases of harassment (80%), the frequency with which they act is tepid at best (37%).

Our objectives were:

• 1. Remove the ambiguity for what constitutes sexual harassment to help people understand when they should intervene
• 2. Convince Ontarians to speak out more about sexual harassment

Our insight was that observing sexual harassment and violence and doing nothing to stop it is condoning sexual harassment and violence. People often avoid helping because they aren't sure if what they are witnessing is in fact an act of sexual harassment or violence, and don't know how to intervene. This culture of uncertainty and inaction is widespread, and in discussions with two Canadian behavioural experts, both with PhDs in psychology and human development, we found that ignoring these issues only serves to increase the likelihood that the perpetrator will continue to repeat the behaviour.

Our goal was to educate the bystander. By targeting our message towards them, we were able to engage and empower a larger group of people to shift the societal norm and positively effect change.

The positioning for #WhoWillYouHelp was unique. Most PSAs victimize the survivor or take issue with the abuser, this campaign spoke directly to the bystander, giving them perspective from both the perpetrator and survivor's point of view. The hashtag #WhoWillYouHelp was tagged on all pieces of creative to encourage action when witnessing these acts, while also prompting peer-to-peer sharing to motivate people to join the conversation and stop sexual harassment when they see it.

On March 6, 2015, the Ontario Government launched "It's Never Okay: An Action Plan to Stop Sexual Violence and Harassment." To support the plan, our public awareness campaign launched across YouTube, Twitter and, given the timeliness of the issue, was embedded in several Ontario news sites. Additional support through TV, print and in-bar advertising allowed greater reach and contextual targeting.

We began to remove the ambiguity for what constitutes sexual harassment to help people understand when they should intervene: there has been a significant strengthening of understanding and attitude (pre 30%, post 60%) to intervene when witnessing sexual harassment amongst Ontarians who have seen the advertising.

We convinced Ontarians to speak out about sexual harassment. Pre-campaign, only 63% of people believed they should speak out against sexual harassment and violence against women. After our campaign launched, we saw that number rise to 71%. People truly believed they needed to be more vocal about these issues to stop them.