Quiet advocacy

Quiet advocacy involves intimate discussions and personal persuasion in bringing an issue to people’s attention. This usually happens on a one-on-one basis between an advocate and the target audience of the advocacy. This usually employs interpersonal techniques in raising people’s awareness. Quiet advocacy could also happen between and among small groups of people such as in schools, women’s group meetings, or in other community settings. Techniques like sketches and drama may be considered relevant to this form of advocacy. Lastly, quiet advocacy could involve a network of like-minded individuals and organisations involved in cooperative work. Types of quiet advocacy therefore include:

• Individual advocacy – this involves someone who may not necessarily be connected to an advocacy organisation but who engages in advocacy work.
• Self-advocacy – this involves people who are directly affected by a particular issue speaking out for themselves.
• Peer advocacy – this involves people who were engaged in a particular issue in the past (i.e. child domestic workers), received services from an advocacy group, and are now themselves involved in the advocacy work.