Health Alerts: Sexual Assault Awareness

Overview:

UCM collaborated with the City of Athens on this public service project to encourage behaviors that would lessen the incidents of sexual assault in the campus community. UCM produced attention-getting informational posters that were placed in key locations on campus. This cost-effective project reached a broad audience with important safety and awareness tips for both men and women.

Challenge:

In addition to being the beginning of “fest” season at the University, April also has been designated national sexual assault awareness month. University and City of Athens officials wanted to seize the opportunity to remind students to practice safe behaviors. UCM was tasked with building on our successful “Be Smart. Be Civil. Be Safe.” campaign from the previous year while sending a strong message that sexual assault is a punishable crime and a crime of opportunity. We wanted to provide tips to both male and female students on how to lessen he chances of being either a perpetrator or a victim of sexual assault.

Solution:

The project provided students with important, highly visible information regarding preventing sexual assault, either as a perpetrator or victim. Posters also provided information on who to contact and where to get support in the event of an assault. This public service campaign brought needed awareness to the problem of sexual assault in a nonthreatening way. 

This project was also a great collaborative effort between the University and City of Athens, as the two entities worked together to develop the campaign. We knew from the previous year’s campaign that a residence hall, dining hall, and uptown promotion would reach the majority of students with our messages. UCM designed posters and table tents for use in all three places, as well as in academic buildings. The series of three posters featured attention-getting text that drew people in to read them, and then provided important safety information. The posters were placed throughout campus for three weeks in April. They made a big impact for a small amount of money.