When ads go beyond agenda

Actor Aishwarya Rai released a short video in which she spoke about street harassment, to coincide with the International Day For The Elimination of Violence Against Women on November 25.

- SHARANYA MANIVANNAN

The video was made to promote beauty brand L'Oreal's Stand Up initiative, a training programme which aims to "prevent street harassment and build safe, inclusive spaces for all".

Street harassment is such a way of life in many parts of the world, including South Asia, that to name it under the umbrella of violence against women may also be an eye-opener to some. It is useful to frame violence as being on a spectrum, of fleeting opportunistic harassment as being linked in motivation to life-altering or continuous harm, rather than to hierarchise these as separate and unconnected.