How a brand strategist built a ‘big orange’ movement to tackle campus rape culture

When Katie White left her corporate role in brand strategy at Lippincott to found Enough, it was because she “wanted to solve a meaningful problem, and saw nothing more meaningful than rape prevention,” the 30-year-old explains.“It’s happened to several people very close to me. The more I researched and learnt, the more disappointed I was that nothing is being done about it, despite it being classified a national emergency by the Government.”She was responding to facts about sexual violence in England and Wales, where of 70,000 rapes reported to police in 2021-22, only 2,223 resulted in charges, while 83% of survivors choose not to go to the police.So in 2024 White set up Enough, which distributes self-swabbing rape equipment - DIY kits that people who believe they have been sexually assaulted can use at home by collecting DNA and posting it to a private laboratory for analysis.“We asked survivors why they didn’t feel able to engage, and what it would take for them to be able to come forward – and we created that,” White explains. “The at home reporting system allows them to document evidence discreetly and quickly, and then decide later what they want to do, while also contributing to a larger system of deterrence. Our approach is option three, coming after police or a Sexual Assault Referral Centre. We encourage everyone who wants to go there to do so first, but too many aren’t able to engage and they deserve a way to preserve evidence and control.”Enough launched with a bang: descending on Bristol University with orange paddling pools and student ambassadors, handing out 8,000 kits, enough for one in every four students. Bars and clubs gave them away free if someone ordered a ‘hot orange’, sports teams were given kits to store in dedicated safe spaces. “Male sports teams proudly backed the campaign, showing that true men speak up and become part of the solution. It became shameful for them not to be involved, kickstarting conversations about consent.”Enough ran on £150,000 in philanthropic funding in its first year, “with the aim of being self-sustaining after proving the model,” White says. The average cost of running Enough for students in a university city for one year is £100,000. After working unpaid for two years, White has recently begun taking a salary.Read MoreThe non-profit hasn’t been universally welcomed: Victim Support and some rape charities oppose self-swabbing because people may wrongly think of it as an alternative to going to a sexual assault referral centre, and there are concerns about conviction rates. But White maintains its value as 'option three', and says she has big ambitions for Enough, which has now distributed 10,000 kits, available free online with 24-hour delivery - although funding is key. "On certain topics, the notion of ‘making money’ seems wrong; rape prevention is one of them," she says."However, non-profits and charities are limited because they have to fundraise, and it can take longer to get the same amount of money that a for-profit organisation would. I think there needs to be a balance of respecting the importance of aims beyond profit, while also making it easier to access funding streams to do the important work."