Sixteen Days of Activism Against Gender Violence: Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse: Listen and Believe Community Campaign and Child Sexual Abuse

• NCJ Number: 202751
• Author(s): Tanja Stojadinovic
• Date Published: May 2003
• Length: 10 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Australian Institute of Criminology
• Sale Source: Australian Institute of Criminology
• Publication Format: Document (Online)
• Publication Type: Conference Material
• Language: English
• Country: Australia
• Note: Paper presented at the Child Sexual Abuse: Justice Response or Alternative Resolution Conference held in Adelaide, Australia, May 1-2, 2003; downloaded November 6, 2003.

Annotation

This paper describes the features and strategies of the public awareness campaign in Adelaide (Australia) entitled, "Listen and Believe," which targeted the general community of metropolitan Adelaide with a specific message about the prevalence of adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse and the important role that listening and believing plays in an adult's healing from her childhood abuse.

Abstract

The Adelaide campaign used much of the format of a global campaign entitled "16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence," which, for the past 12 years, has involved individuals and organizations from over 100 countries in activities on behalf of adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse. The Adelaide campaign had two objectives. First, it developed, designed, and promoted, in partnership with key players, an advertising campaign that highlighted the messages of the campaign, i.e., to listen and believe the experiences and needs of adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Second, the campaign developed, designed, and promoted information media to build the capacity of the community to respond appropriately to disclosures by adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse. The strategies for the first objective involved developing and designing a bus advertisement to be displayed on Adelaide buses over the 16 days of activism; developing and designing posters for organizations and others in the community; the creation of a logo or symbol to be used as a representation for adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse; and the launching of the campaign through a major event to draw the media, departmental, and political decisionmakers to the campaign, which included a speech by a well-known South Australian personality. Strategies for achieving the second objective involved developing an Avant Card free postcard to be distributed to community restaurants, movie theaters, and retail outlets, as well as the development, design, and promotion of a pamphlet for partners, family members, and friends of adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse. The campaign included the participation of six women's survivor groups in Adelaide. 16 references and illustrations of ad images