In Brazil, reports of misogyny, violence, or discrimination against women increased by 224.9% compared to the previous year (Source: National Cybercrime Reporting Center of the ONG SaferNet Brasil). This is fuelling a growing fear among women of being publicly exposed in fake images created with artificial intelligence.

Brazilian cosmetics company, O Boticário, and AlmapBBDO has stepped in to stop this abuse. Their Code Her movement includes a bot that alerts about modification and sexualisation attempts of photos by AI, and a digital handbook with the necessary information to report and act on possible legal implications.

Code Her was developed as a bot within the X platform, which can be activated by users themselves by simply tagging @CodeHerBot when sharing their photos on this social network. Women interested in having monitoring on their posts must access the project’s website, that contains all information and guidelines, and upon accepting the terms, will activate the feature.

After activation, when publishing photos, tag @codeherbot in the post so that the feature, through the AI chatbot, monitors the publication. If there is a photo-manipulation attempt by Grok (X’s AI), the image will not be displayed; an alert signalling the attempt will be sent to the victim, notifying the official channels for reporting and raising awareness of laws and rights.

The initiative is aligned with the positioning of the feminine fragrance brand, Her Code, that since 2023 has been opening conversations and initiatives for women on the theme of female pleasure, that even though advanced in discussions, remains surrounded by many taboos, and unfortunately, serious violations against the female body

“It is important to highlight that artificial intelligence has brought numerous positive possibilities and that it is the human intention behind the prompt that can make it a tool for public exposure and vulnerability. Our initiative is to position ourselves increasingly as allies of women, advancing in the construction of projects that go beyond the universe of beauty, promoting relevant discussions and proposing connected and constructive solutions,” stated Carolina Carrasco, branding and communication director of O Boticário and Quem Disse, Berenice.The project aims to open the conversation about image manipulation by AI and encourage the search for information about legal protections. it leads with a digital film starring singer, Marina Sena, and features Rose Leonel, a journalist who had intimate images disclosed without consent in the early 2000s.

The campaign also reinforces information about existing Brazilian laws for reporting these crimes, such as the Rose Leonel Law, Carolina Dieckmann Law, Maria da Penha Law, and the Civil Rights Framework for the internet – all named after Brazilian women who suffered violence, whether in physical or digital environments.

“This behaviour on social media is a serious symptom of our society. But the internet is not a lawless land. With Code Her, we are using AI against AI, so that women can share photos of their bodies however they want and they continue to be theirs alone,” stated Ana Novis and Paula Keller Perego, creative directors at AlmapBBDO.

For this year’s Women’s Day, the Boticário Group also expanded the debate on the reality of violence against women in Brazil by launching the exclusive WhatsApp channel, Precisamos Falar (We Need to Talk), designed in partnership with Bloom Care, a digital female health platform founded by women and guided by science.

Throughout the month of March, the channel gathered the medical community, lawyers, and psychologists to guide society on how to act and face violence against women. Real doubts and urgent questions from the community turn into active listening and content co-created with these specialists. More than 15,000 people visited the WhatsApp channel, which showed that talking, listening, and learning about violence against women is urgent and necessary.

Here are some other initiatives: