Promising Practice Programs

Celebrate don't Violate

Agency Yarrow Place Rape and Sexual Assault Service
Adelaide, SA
Website http://www.yarrowplace.sa.gov.au
Contact Lucia Arman, Rape Prevention Project Officer
Ph: (08) 8226 8777, email: yarrowplc@mail.wch.sa.gov.au
Start date February 2003
End date December 2003
Program type Community awareness/education
Service provider training
Training for community groups
Advocacy programs
Therapeutic responses to victim/survivors
Geographical area State wide, rural/country town
Target group "Schoolies week" participants
Description The "Celebrate don't Violate" campaign was a focused and strategic health promotion and crime prevention strategy targeting local and visiting young people participating in end of year 2003 school leaver celebrations in Victor Harbor, South Australia. Yarrow Place in collaboration with the Southern Fleurieu Drug Action Network worked toward the prevention of date, acquaintance, drug and alcohol facilitated sexual violence. The aim of the project was to reduce the incidence of rape and sexual assault for young people attending school leaver celebrations and/or the negative impact to a disclosure of rape and sexual assault to a victim/survivor by a third party.

Key strategies included:

  • Distribution of key rings and stickers to young people during schoolies week featuring the "Celebrate don't Violate" campaign slogan, help numbers and messages aimed at the prevention of rape and sexual assault.
  • Development of material and training of volunteers from Encounter Schoolies group in preventing and responding to sexual assault, and presentation of Student Seminars by Encounter Schoolies.
  • Training and information seminars for staff at licensed venues and accommodation in the region on what they can do to prevent and respond to rape and sexual assault. Working with South Australia Police, Yarrow Place coasters and staff information cards were also distributed to licensed venues and accommodation facilities.
  • 1500 School Leaver Accommodation Packs containing information resources about rape and sexual assault and its prevention were given to young people booked into accommodation venues for end of year school leaver celebrations.
  • Presentation about drug and alcohol facilitated sexual assault at a Department of Education and Children's Services state-wide seminar on "Safe Partying", aimed at providing senior secondary and drug awareness high school coordinators with a context for safe partying strategies at school leaver celebrations.
  • Presentation of three "Fresh Forums" about rape and sexual assault and young people on the community youth radio station Fresh FM 92.7.
  • A 24-hour crisis response for recent rape and sexual assault was provided by Yarrow Place in the Southern Fleurieu region during schoolies week.
  • "First Response" training was provided to a group of 20 Southern Fleurieu health service providers interested in providing counselling support for individuals and/or their significant others who disclose a recent rape or sexual assault.
Promising practice examples Multi stake-holder consultation and collaboration (ie individuals, services, organisations and businesses) at a local and state-wide level.
The development of resources with rape and sexual assault prevention messages, strategies, service options and help numbers on them.
Engaging communities to develop and actively demonstrate "zero tolerance" for rape and sexual assault.

Working toward the achievement of mutually agreed goals for schoolies week 2003 and as it relates to the prevention of rape and sexual assault ie:

  • providing potential perpetrators with messages clearly stating that rape and sexual assault will not be tolerated;
  • reduction in the incidence of sexual violence;
  • skilling individuals to respond appropriately and sensitively to a disclosure of rape or sexual assault;
  • providing young people with strategies to increase safety and reduce rape and sexual assault vulnerability factors;
  • providing victims/survivors of rape and sexual assault with help numbers and service options.

As part of the "Celebrate don't Violate" campaign, stakeholders agreed that one way of getting messages across to young people about zero tolerance for date, acquaintance, drug and alcohol facilitated rape and sexual was to develop key rings with messages on them. The message on side A of the key rings was:

Too wasted to say NO is also too wasted to say YES
Celebrate don't Violate
It's a crime to be sexual with someone who has not said or who can't say YES

Side B displayed contact numbers for Emergency, Police, Yarrow Place Rape and Sexual Assault Service.
Philosophical framework Solutions for the prevention of rape and sexual assault does not rest with potential victims. Instead the prevention of sexual violence rests with society and for communities to not only define sexual assault as unacceptable but to also seek and implement solutions for its elimination.

The "Celebrate don't Violate" campaign sought to develop health promotion and crime prevention messages, resources and strategies that actively engaged community on both a local and statewide level to play an active role in the prevention of rape and sexual assault and in so doing demonstrate "zero tolerance" for any or all incidents of sexual assault.

Of equal importance is that the program also sought to place responsibility and accountability for rape and sexual assault with the perpetrators of the crime and to send clear messages to potential perpetrators that rape and sexual assault is not only unacceptable but that it would not be tolerated at school leaver celebrations.

The campaign sought to prevent further victimisation to victims/survivors of sexual assault by skilling individuals to respond appropriately to a disclosure of rape or sexual assault.
Research informing program The foundation for the program's health promotion and crime prevention messages, resources and strategies was based on a combination of police crime data, anecdotal information concerning past incidents of rape and sexual assaults at schoolies week and current research about the nature and context of sexual violence for young people.
Evaluation Evaluation pending.
Internal.
The evaluation will be a combination of output, process and impact evaluation utilising a range of evaluation tools including stakeholder surveys, focus groups and written evaluations following attendance.

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