The archive · Advertising · Marketing decision · 2023
GirlvsCancer's 'Sex & Cancer' turns survivors' own words into defiant monologues
Three women who have had cancer turned their own stories into defiant on-screen monologues about sex, breaking two taboos at once.
GirlvsCancer
What it had to solve
Over a third of women are given no information about how cancer will affect their sex life, even though up to 90% of patients experience sexual side effects. Community charity GirlvsCancer set out to break two taboos at once: cancer, and women's sexuality.
How it works
Cancer treatment can change a woman's sex life, yet over a third of women are given no information about it — even though up to 90% of patients experience sexual side effects. Community charity GirlvsCancer set out to break two taboos at once: cancer, and women's sexuality.
The response was a set of films made with three women who had experienced cancer. Through a series of writing sessions, their personal experiences were shaped into powerfully defiant monologues, so the films spoke in the survivors' own voices.
The production was built around safety and accuracy: an all-female team, an intimacy coordinator, and close consultation with the cancer community. The work is held in the D&AD awards archive under Writing for Advertising.
Why it lands
- The subject is doubly taboo, so the campaign had to overcome silence about cancer and silence about women's sexuality at the same time.
- The scripts came from writing sessions with women who had lived through cancer, so the films carried survivors' own words rather than a charity's message.
- An all-female crew, an intimacy coordinator and close consultation with the cancer community made the production safe for the people it depicted.
- Framing the women as defiant rather than as victims turned a difficult subject into something powerful to watch.
What it did
The films gave a silenced subject a defiant voice, spoken by survivors in their own words and made with production choices designed for their safety. The work is held in the D&AD awards archive under Writing for Advertising.
What you can take
For a doubly taboo subject, let the people who lived it write the script: monologues co-written with survivors carry a truth no agency line can, and safety-focused production keeps that promise.
Since then
The films placed the words of women with cancer at the centre of a taboo-breaking conversation about sex after illness, and the work is preserved in the D&AD awards archive under Writing for Advertising as an example of co-writing sensitive campaigns with the people they represent.
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