The Real Reason #ChallengeAccepted Started

A new Instagram trend has seen millions of us regular folk and countless celebrities, including Khloe Kardashian, Kelly Rowland and Jennifer Aniston, upload a black and white photograph of themselves and hashtag it with either #ChallengeAccepted or #WomenSupportingWomen.

It's possible that you too may have been nominated to share a picture by a friend, with a message about encouraging women to uplift other women – which is absolutely fantastic. But activists have since pointed out that this isn't the real reason that Women Supporting Women or Challenge Accepted were created.

Like with any social media trend, it's important to know the origin of it and in this case, it's thought to be in relation to raising awareness on violence against women in Turkey (and opposing the lenient sentences given to men afterwards). Side note: some reports say the hashtag #ChallengeAccepted first became popular in 2016, relating to a cancer awareness campaign, but has recently been picked up again by Turkish women.

An account for The American University Turkish Cultural Club posted an explainer on their stories (which has been reposted by author and journalist Poorna Bell), saying: "Turkish people wake up every day to see a black and white photo of a woman who has been murdered on their Instagram feed, on their newspapers, on their TV screens."

The story continued on to say, "The black and white photo challenge started as a way for women to raise their voice. To stand in solidarity with the women we have lost. To show that one day, it could be their picture that is plastered across news outlets with a black and white filter on top."

This content is imported from Instagram. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

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As #challengeaccepted continues to trend, here is some more information on the origin of the post & how it became suddenly popular out of nowhere❕ . It began to spread first in Turkey as millions of us here grieve the deaths of several women, this week alone, who have garnered a lot of media attention as victims of Femicide. . As the Turkish government looks to back out of the Istanbul Convention, which is made to protect the high number of domestic abuse cases against women, people are angry & banded together to show solidarity against this action. . Your beautiful black & white photo is yes, meant to empower other women as your sister, but because so many men disregard & dispose us of our worth. . I urge you to google Femicide and read the horrific accounts some women have faced. Violence against women anywhere is a tragedy! Share with purpose ✨ . #Femicide #womenempoweringwomen #sisterhood #kadınaşiddetehayır #istanbulsözleşmesiyaşatır #Feminism

A post shared by Zeycan Rochelle YILDIRIM (@zeycan_rochelle) on Jul 27, 2020 at 7:10pm PDT

"I see many of my non-Turkish friends sharing black and white photos of themselves as a "challenge" but not knowing the reason or the origin of the challenge. So here is my attempt to educate the little following I have... Turkey is one of the top countries when it comes to femicides [an intentional killing based on gender]. Just [in] 2019 we have had almost 500 RECORDED femicides. Sadly many remain unrecorded and we have no real number as to how many women are murdered here every year. Just this week, we have had several women murdered."

Other Turks have spoken out about the viral campaign getting lost in translation, with Zeycan Rochelle Yildirim (a philanthropist based in Istanbul) also seeking to educate others, by sharing a black and white photo of herself:

"The true reason behind this viral trend is for more than just vanity. Turkey, with its 6th most global users for Instagram, began the viral trend to bring light to Femicide and how common it is for us to see black & white photos of women murdered by the senseless arrogance & uncontrolled violence of men. We're no strangers to waking up to a new black & white image, a new hashtag on Instagram & a solidarity of outcry of the nation banding together for the change we desperately hope to see.

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The reason for #challengeaccepted I’ve seen has become mistranslated & reduced to only #womenempoweringwomen . But the true reason behind this viral trend is for more than just vanity ✨ . Turkey, with its 6th most global users for Instagram, began the viral trend to bring light to Femicide and how common it is for us to see black & white photos of women murdered by the senseless arrogance & uncontrolled violence of men. . We are no strangers to waking up to a new black & white image, a new hashtag on Instagram & a solidarity of outcry of the nation banding together for the change we desperately hope to see. . This hashtag was therefore shared for women to empower women, to let each other know that our pain is the same & we are all hurting together, but MORE importantly that we know that we can be the next trending image & hashtag too, neither of us are exempt no matter how privileged we may believe we are‼️ . I think it’s beautiful how quickly this hashtag has become a global trend amongst women, it’s just important to know the truth behind it so we can use it for that much more power. ✨✨ . Violence against women anywhere is a tragedy. We have to be our biggest supporters leaving the hate aside. Being a woman as is, is tough enough❕ . #femicide #kadınaşiddetehayır #istanbulsözleşmesiyaşatır #feminism

A post shared by Zeycan Rochelle YILDIRIM (@zeycan_rochelle) on Jul 27, 2020 at 12:11pm PDT

"This hashtag was therefore shared for women to empower women, to let each other know that our pain is the same & we are all hurting together, but MORE importantly that we know that we can be the next trending image & hashtag too, neither of us are exempt no matter how privileged we may believe we are. I think it’s beautiful how quickly this hashtag has become a global trend amongst women, it’s just important to know the truth behind it so we can use it for that much more power."

When posting her own contribution, Jennifer Aniston admitted that she (like many others) wasn't entirely sure of the origin of #ChallengeAccepted, but liked the messaging behind it and used her post as an opportunity to encourage people to vote in the upcoming election.

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Thank you to all the brilliant and beautiful women in my life who sent the most uplifting messages today. Truth be told, I don’t really understand this #challengeaccepted thing…but who doesn't love good reason to support women!  Soooo…. challenge accepted! ⠀ ⠀ And while I have you here, maybe the best way we can support other women is to REGISTER TO VOTE for the issues that affect women. Encourage all your friends, girlfriends, sisters, moms, daughters to do the same. The election is right around the corner, and we need to look out for each other AND love each other! ??‍?‍????‍?‍??????‍?‍??❤️

A post shared by Jennifer Aniston (@jenniferaniston) on Jul 27, 2020 at 7:20pm PDT

"Thank you to all the brilliant and beautiful women in my life who sent the most uplifting messages today. Truth be told, I don’t really understand this #challengeaccepted thing…but who doesn't love good reason to support women! Soooo…. challenge accepted! And while I have you here, maybe the best way we can support other women is to REGISTER TO VOTE for the issues that affect women."

Two days ago, Instagram told The New York Times: "The trend is still picking up with usage of the hashtag on Instagram doubling in the last day alone. Based on the posts, we’re seeing that most of the participants are posting with notes relating to strength and support for their communities."

So, now you know. If you're nominated to join in with the challenge, you might like to consider using it as an opportunity to help spread information about the violence faced by Turkish women on a daily basis (often under the guise of being an "honour killing"), as well as standing in solidarity with women the world over.