Student design contests are a great way to involve students in the creation of sexual assault prevention messages. This approach to message development allows students to feel involved in issues affecting their campus, and it can yield a product or message that is more relevant to the student body than that which professional educators would create. Two successful contests from other campuses are described.
As part of their Take Back the Night (TBTN) activities, the Women's Center at Central Connecticut State University has held a banner contest. Individual students and student groups across campus were asked to create a banner based on the chosen theme for the year.
Student banners were judged in the following categories:
The Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center (SAPAC) at the University of Michigan holds an annual "sexism in advertising" contest. Now in its 20 th year, the contest challenges individuals to examine media portrayals of women and to gain awareness of the ways in which violent and degrading images can create an atmosphere that accepts and supports the sexual victimization of women.
To learn more about how SAPAC runs this contest, and to see past examples of images selected because of their "sexism in advertising," visit: http://www.umich.edu/~sapac/events.sexism.html
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