More than 10,000 volunteers gathered last weekend at the Younique Products Convention in St. Louis to try to set a world record — the number of selfies taken at the same time — and to help raise awareness to combat sexual abuse.
Defend Innocence, managed by the Lehi-based The Younique Foundation, was attempting to set the record for "Most self-portrait photographs (selfies) taken simultaneously." The record the volunteers were trying to break was 4,296 participants set in St. Louis and sponsored by Nathan's Famous Hotdogs, according to guinnessworldrecords.com.
Defend Innocence took 4,991 selfies simultaneously in St. Louis on Aug. 6 and after the selfies were taken, participants uploaded their photos to their social media accounts with the hashtag #startdefending to help raise awareness for combating sexual abuse. A representative from Guinness World Records was present during the event.
Defend Innocence is a sexual abuse awareness foundation that helps survivors of sexual abuse and works to lower the number of sexual abuse cases among children.
“The fact that sexual abuse survivors really deal with lifelong consequences is not just or fair,” Chris Yadon, executive director of The Younique Foundation, said in an interview. “They didn't deserve it, they didn't ask for it, so we felt a compelling desire to do something about it. That is really where the seed was planted for the work that we do.”
The participants put blue paint under their eyes, similar to athletes, with the words "start defending" on them.
“The goal that we have and the purpose of the Guinness moment was to reach parents and caregivers of children with a 'Start Defending' message that there are things parents can do that will make a difference and protect their children from sexual abuse,” Yadon said. “Education is key. It empowers parents to engage with us, allowing them to keep their kids safe.”
For more information, see defendinnocence.org.
Email: ewhite@deseretnews.com