Sexual violence awareness campaign seeks to create a culture of care on P.E.I.
'Being able to increase the public’s understanding of sexual violence and how to prevent it is so crucial'
Almost a year into P.E.I.'s awareness campaign around sexual violence, the province says it's seeing results.
The Let's Change the Story campaign, part of government's five-year plan to address sexual violence on the Island, includes advertisements on the radio, on social media and at bus stations.
"We may not always identify ourselves as being survivors or maybe people who cause harm, but one thing that's quite universal is that we all may become witness to a form of sexual violence," said Eileen Conboy, sexual violence prevention and response co-ordinator with the Interministerial Women's Secretariat.
One of the campaign's ads at a bus stop demonstrates how Islanders can change the language they use when talking about consent. It corrects the phrase "Jamie assumed consent" to instead say "Jamie asked for consent."
Ads like this one urge Islanders to visit the campaign's website to learn more about sexual violence and how to intervene safely — which is exactly what's happening, said Conboy.
People have been accessing the website and clicking around to different pages, she said, which is a sign that the campaign is working.
Increasing understanding
Conboy said the awareness campaign was inspired by a vision of reshaping the social norm to focus on caring and looking out for one another.
"We can hope for a world where we're actually preventing sexual violence from ever happening, and so being able to increase the public's understanding of sexual violence and how to prevent it is so crucial."
The way the ads are designed puts the audience in a position of an active bystander, which was an intentional choice based on best practices in public awareness campaigning specifically for sexual violence, Conboy said.
"That feels like a really accessible place to take in information and learn how we may be able to intervene in a safe way," she said.
It's common for those who have experienced sexual violence to disclose their experience to someone they know or someone close to them before they ever reach dedicated supports in the community, Conboy said.
"It is wonderful and necessary to respond to active cases of sexual violence in a trauma-informed way and in a really responsive way."
What's next?
While the initiative is drawing people to the campaign's website, Conboy said it's hard to evaluate prevention until years in the future when the outcomes become more clear.
In the meantime, the province will be launching other initiatives as part of its five-year approach to addressing sexual violence on the Island.
"We all have a responsibility and an opportunity to prevent sexual violence," Conboy said.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With files from Taylor O'Brien