iPendoring 2025 Finalists
Consent is Couture
Janine Verburg / Johannesburg + TharunaDevchand / Johannesburg + MonaMabiletsa / Johannesburg
Client / Brand
Tears Foundation
Entry Title
Consent is Couture
Description (View/Hide)
In South Africa, gender-based violence is not just an epidemic, it’s a norm. Survivors are silenced not only by perpetrators but by a society desensitised to their stories.
“Consent is Couture” is an unapologetic campaign that reclaims space, physical and emotional, for women’s voices to be heard. It confronts a culture that has normalised sexual assault by giving survivors the language, visibility, and dignity they’ve been denied.
The insight: many survivors don’t immediately realise they’ve been assaulted, and when they do, they’re often invalidated. Without the tools or safety to name their trauma, they internalise guilt and shame, blaming themselves before others can.
At its heart are long-form, first-person narratives told through OOH: striking boudoir-esque portraits layered with unfiltered survivor stories. These images aren’t salacious, they’re subversive. After sexual assault, many women dissociate from their bodies - the confident poses are a visual act of healing, a way to re-inhabit the body, reframe agency, and reclaim allure.
Superimposed text, delicate and scar-like, mirrors the invisible residue of trauma. From afar, they blur into the image. Up close, they reveal truth. A metaphor for pain, the way trauma can act as a silent barrier between them and the world or them and owning their power and a visual shield against further objectification.
This campaign meets the audience where they are, in everyday locations such as taxi ranks and on buildings and under bridges. Stories of violence behind closed doors, down alleyways, or in new relationships appear in the very places they happen, reframing public space as both witness and ally.
These aren't slogans. They’re truths, told in all languages and for all cultures; transforming areas into open diaries, testimony and protest.
Aligned with the TEARS Foundation, this campaign amplifies their mission to support survivors by offering visibility, education, and validation. The tone echoes TEARS’ voice: calm, empathetic, and empowering, never pitying.
This is more than awareness; it’s art as armour. A bold, visual language for survival. It breaks silence, confronts cultural numbness, and asserts that consent is not only necessary — it is couture. The silence is broken on walls.
“Consent is Couture” is an unapologetic campaign that reclaims space, physical and emotional, for women’s voices to be heard. It confronts a culture that has normalised sexual assault by giving survivors the language, visibility, and dignity they’ve been denied.
The insight: many survivors don’t immediately realise they’ve been assaulted, and when they do, they’re often invalidated. Without the tools or safety to name their trauma, they internalise guilt and shame, blaming themselves before others can.
At its heart are long-form, first-person narratives told through OOH: striking boudoir-esque portraits layered with unfiltered survivor stories. These images aren’t salacious, they’re subversive. After sexual assault, many women dissociate from their bodies - the confident poses are a visual act of healing, a way to re-inhabit the body, reframe agency, and reclaim allure.
Superimposed text, delicate and scar-like, mirrors the invisible residue of trauma. From afar, they blur into the image. Up close, they reveal truth. A metaphor for pain, the way trauma can act as a silent barrier between them and the world or them and owning their power and a visual shield against further objectification.
This campaign meets the audience where they are, in everyday locations such as taxi ranks and on buildings and under bridges. Stories of violence behind closed doors, down alleyways, or in new relationships appear in the very places they happen, reframing public space as both witness and ally.
These aren't slogans. They’re truths, told in all languages and for all cultures; transforming areas into open diaries, testimony and protest.
Aligned with the TEARS Foundation, this campaign amplifies their mission to support survivors by offering visibility, education, and validation. The tone echoes TEARS’ voice: calm, empathetic, and empowering, never pitying.
This is more than awareness; it’s art as armour. A bold, visual language for survival. It breaks silence, confronts cultural numbness, and asserts that consent is not only necessary — it is couture. The silence is broken on walls.
Entered In
Janine Verburg / Johannesburg + TharunaDevchand / Johannesburg + MonaMabiletsa / Johannesburg
Client / Brand
Tears Foundation
Entry Title
Consent is Couture
Description (View/Hide)
In South Africa, gender-based violence is not just an epidemic, it’s a norm. Survivors are silenced not only by perpetrators but by a society desensitised to their stories.
“Consent is Couture” is an unapologetic campaign that reclaims space, physical and emotional, for women’s voices to be heard. It confronts a culture that has normalised sexual assault by giving survivors the language, visibility, and dignity they’ve been denied.
The insight: many survivors don’t immediately realise they’ve been assaulted, and when they do, they’re often invalidated. Without the tools or safety to name their trauma, they internalise guilt and shame, blaming themselves before others can.
At its heart are long-form, first-person narratives told through OOH: striking boudoir-esque portraits layered with unfiltered survivor stories. These images aren’t salacious, they’re subversive. After sexual assault, many women dissociate from their bodies - the confident poses are a visual act of healing, a way to re-inhabit the body, reframe agency, and reclaim allure.
Superimposed text, delicate and scar-like, mirrors the invisible residue of trauma. From afar, they blur into the image. Up close, they reveal truth. A metaphor for pain, the way trauma can act as a silent barrier between them and the world or them and owning their power and a visual shield against further objectification.
This campaign meets the audience where they are, in everyday locations such as taxi ranks and on buildings and under bridges. Stories of violence behind closed doors, down alleyways, or in new relationships appear in the very places they happen, reframing public space as both witness and ally.
These aren't slogans. They’re truths, told in all languages and for all cultures; transforming areas into open diaries, testimony and protest.
Aligned with the TEARS Foundation, this campaign amplifies their mission to support survivors by offering visibility, education, and validation. The tone echoes TEARS’ voice: calm, empathetic, and empowering, never pitying.
This is more than awareness; it’s art as armour. A bold, visual language for survival. It breaks silence, confronts cultural numbness, and asserts that consent is not only necessary — it is couture. The silence is broken on walls.
“Consent is Couture” is an unapologetic campaign that reclaims space, physical and emotional, for women’s voices to be heard. It confronts a culture that has normalised sexual assault by giving survivors the language, visibility, and dignity they’ve been denied.
The insight: many survivors don’t immediately realise they’ve been assaulted, and when they do, they’re often invalidated. Without the tools or safety to name their trauma, they internalise guilt and shame, blaming themselves before others can.
At its heart are long-form, first-person narratives told through OOH: striking boudoir-esque portraits layered with unfiltered survivor stories. These images aren’t salacious, they’re subversive. After sexual assault, many women dissociate from their bodies - the confident poses are a visual act of healing, a way to re-inhabit the body, reframe agency, and reclaim allure.
Superimposed text, delicate and scar-like, mirrors the invisible residue of trauma. From afar, they blur into the image. Up close, they reveal truth. A metaphor for pain, the way trauma can act as a silent barrier between them and the world or them and owning their power and a visual shield against further objectification.
This campaign meets the audience where they are, in everyday locations such as taxi ranks and on buildings and under bridges. Stories of violence behind closed doors, down alleyways, or in new relationships appear in the very places they happen, reframing public space as both witness and ally.
These aren't slogans. They’re truths, told in all languages and for all cultures; transforming areas into open diaries, testimony and protest.
Aligned with the TEARS Foundation, this campaign amplifies their mission to support survivors by offering visibility, education, and validation. The tone echoes TEARS’ voice: calm, empathetic, and empowering, never pitying.
This is more than awareness; it’s art as armour. A bold, visual language for survival. It breaks silence, confronts cultural numbness, and asserts that consent is not only necessary — it is couture. The silence is broken on walls.
