Campaign Activity for Groups and Talking Points

Tips, tools and resources for sharing the activity with your community!

Sexual Assault Awareness Month is a great time to engage your community in conversations about sexual violence. Included are five different talking points to help facilitate these discussions, and we encourage you to add anything that might resonate with the group you are meeting with. The talking points we have included are geared towards working with youth, however you may find them applicable to other audiences as well.

Conversations about sexual violence will often leave participants with mixed feelings. They may leave the room inspired to make change, feel overwhelmed, or not sure what to do. Channeling this energy into positive change is the goal of this activity. As a facilitator, you may want to provide examples of how individuals can challenge the societal norms that contribute to sexual violence. For example, not laughing at a sexist joke or standing up for a friend that is being harassed. The key here is to acknowledge the little things we can all do on a daily basis to change the way we think about and prevent sexual violence.

The phrases included in the activity are focused on the positive. "I am anti ___________ and pro ___________" encourages all of us to imagine a world without sexual violence, while giving us space to have a little fun and share our creative energies.

Be a part of a statewide effort.

Sharing the solutions of your community via social networking outlets (twitter, facebook, and the SAAM website) will help us to get the word out and connect programs and communities across the state. Plus, it is fun to see all the cool ideas!

The Steps.
1. Have a conversation
2. Offer everyone a flag or work together on a poster
3. Give each participant the opportunity to share their solution
4. Take a picture and email it to wasaam@wcsap.org
5. Within a couple of days each participant will be able to see their picture posted online, in alliance with people from all across the state!
6. Go to www.wasaam.org for some great examples

Talking Points.

The flag and poster activities are great conversation starters, and we suggest furthering the conversation by introducing some questions and talking points. Below are five different topics with a list of questions, talking points and additional resources. The list is meant to be used as a tool to help facilitate conversations, and is by no means exhaustive. Please add any talking points that you think will resonate with the community you are working with.

#1 - The Media:

What messages does the media give us about:

gender roles
sexuality
violence
culture

Do you feel that the media accurately represents you (your age, culture, values, etc.)?

What influence does media have on our society?

Have there been any recent sexual assaults reported / discussed by the media in your community?

If so, bringing copies of the article and address how the issue was covered.
Who is held accountable for what happened?
What words are used to to describe what happened?

Media can be a powerful tool. What are some ideas on how to use media to create positive social change?

Online resources on media, sexual violence and youth:

#2 - Sexting:

Is forwarding a picture of somebody without their consent respectful behavior? Why or why not?
Is taking a picture of yourself or others responsible?

What control do you have of that picture once it is sent out?
The Internet is hyperpublic (which is to say, absolutely permanent, there are no private conversations in some contexts).
This means that many of our actions carry a heavier weight of permanence than ever before.

What are the percentages of teens sending or posting nude and semi nude pictures of themselves?

teens (13 - 19)

20% of teens overall
22% of teen girls
18% of teen boys
11% of young teen girls (ages 13-16)

young adults (20 - 26)

33% of young adults overall
36% of young adult women
31% of young adult men (retrieved from http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/sextech/PDF/SexTech_Summary.pdf)

Does this sound accurate to the group you are working with?

Who, in the group, knows the legal consequences of sexting?

It is possible that teens may face felony child-pornography charges for possessing or distributing explicit images of themselves or other teens
If someone takes a photo of themselves and sends it to a partner, they may still be found guilty of these charges.
Note: The general consensus among sexual assault advocates seems to be that criminalizing behavior that kids engage in voluntarily or consensually is bad practice, which is to say lifetime registration as a sex offender seems to be a high price to pay for poor decision made as a child or adolescent.
What are some reactions to the legal consequences discussed?

What does consent look like in the context of sexting?

Online Sexting Resources:

#3 - Use and Misuse of Power:

What power do you have in society?

Think about how your age, gender, race, class, etc. may put you in a position of power
What privileges does this afford you?
In what ways can you use your power to help others? To help end sexual violence?

Who has power over you in society?

Does this have an impact your life?
How would you like to see those with power over you be responsible with it?

How does the use and misuse of power relate to sexual violence?

When someone or a group of people in a position of power misuse it, they often go unchallenged. Why is this?

What message does this send to the victim?
What message does this send to the person in power?
What does it look like when people in power are challenged?

Whole communities are often affected by an act of sexual violence. They often feel challenged, have a need to place blame, and take sides. Take, for example, a high school setting. What responses might the community have to a student coming forward to say that they were raped by another student?

Do you think the victim's academic, athletic, or social status would affect how the community responded to them?
Do you think the perpetrator's academic, athletic, or social status would affect how the community responded to them?

Online resources addressing Power:

#4 - Bystander Intervention:

What are some reasons that we don't intervene when we see someone harassing or disrespecting another person?

Have you ever had the opportunity to help someone in such a situation and not? Why might this have been difficult?
How did you feel afterwards?
What did you learn from that experience?

If you were in the position of being harassed and/or disrespected by someone, what would you like a bystander to do?

Can you share an example of a time someone came to your side to offer support, or challenge someone's behavior towards you?
Can these actions be a part of changing our cultural norms?

Bystander intervention is often times seen as a method of preventing sexual violence, because it addresses harmful behaviors before they escalate.

What are some behaviors that you feel you could safely challenge?
What are some behaviors you might be able to change within yourself?

How do we help our communities identify concerning behaviors?

In order to effectively challenge these behaviors, it is important to analyze their root causes.

The goal of addressing harmful behaviors consistently is the hope that it will lead to changing societal norms. Why is shifting societal norms important when we talk about preventing and responding to sexual violence?

Online resources on engaging bystanders:

#5 - Visioning a Different Reality:

What needs to change in order for sexual violence to end?

What are some of the root causes of sexual violence?
How do we challenge these root causes?

How would the world look different if sexual violence was not an issue?

How would you act differently?
What are some normal, day to day actions that you currently have that might change
Shared values like accountability, justice, equality, etc. can create an atmosphere less tolerant of sexual assault. What values do you see coming from the group?

Why is it important to think of the world differently?

If we can't see where we are going, how do we know how to get there?

What is one step each of us can take to get there?

Being creative about our vision can keep us inspired.
Think both big and small!

Celebrate moments of liberation, however big or small.

Give an example of a libratory moment you shared with a survivor.
Ask the participants to think of a libratory moment they've experienced or seen.

Online resources for visioning:

http://wasaam.org/index.php?id=sexual-assault-awareness-month-campaign-activity | Saved Friday, April 16th, 2010 - 6:07 PM

Campaign Activity for Groups and Talking Points

Tips, tools and resources for sharing the activity with your community!

Talking Points.

The month of April has been designated Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM). The goal of SAAM is to raise public awareness about sexual violence and to educate communities and individuals on how to prevent sexual violence.

Be the Solution is the 2010 Sexual Assault Awareness Month Campaign supported by Washington Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs, which is made up of service providers, organizations, and individuals across the state of Washington.