Background Information

Relevant Research Data

The Sexual Assault Needs Assessment Project (SNAP) was a study conducted by the Center for Health Promotion in collaboration with the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Center for School Mental Health Assistance, that demonstrated that only 17% of victims of rape or sexual assault knew of the availability of rape crisis centers or services prior to victimization.  The study also showed that a large percentage of victims of sexual violence did not access services until a year or more following the initial attack.  Sexual assault centers and victims both reported a need for increased community awareness about sexual violence.  Based on the results from the SNAP, one recommendation was that greater public awareness might help reduce the stigma associated with these crimes, increase knowledge about and sensitivity to issues related to sexual violence, and encourage victims to access and/or seek help sooner.

Phase I of The Media Campaign

Shugoll Research was hired to conduct formative research for the campaign. This included conducting a topic appropriate literature search and locating previously executed mass media campaigns to identify message strategies and campaign elements that have proven effective. In addition, Shugoll Research drafted and conducted extensive statewide focus group testing of a variety of campaign messages. After reviewing and analyzing the focus group data, Shugoll provided the Center for Health Promotion with final recommendations for developing the rape and sexual assault prevention media campaign.

Phase II of the Media Campaign

Sahara Communications, Inc. was hired to develop the creative portion of the campaign including all print media materials; radio and TV public service announcements, and provide inventive avenues to ensure that every county is included in the promotion of the campaign.  All collateral was focus group tested with rape survivors, staff from local rape crisis centers and health departments, men and women from the general public and the Latino community.

Statistics

An estimated one out of every eight adult women living in Maryland has been forcibly raped sometime during her lifetime (Rape in Maryland:  A Report to the State, 2003).

Nearly 90% of sexual assault victims knew their perpetrator (Tjaden and Thoennes, 2000).

Additional Information

The media campaign has received positive support from the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault (MCASA) and the local rape crisis centers.

The campaign is 100% federally funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

 

About the Campaign

The first-ever Maryland statewide Rape and Sexual Assault Prevention Campaign officially kicked off on Thusday, October 19, 2006, at an 8 a.m. press conference held in the Prince George's Hospital Center Pavilion.  Culminating a four-month period when campaign collateral was developed and pre-tested in focus groups, the campaign features three key messages:

The campaign also encompasses several marketing materials, including:

PAID MEDIA

Approximately six sixty-second spots have been developed for the Rape and Sexual Assault Prevention Campaign.  Three of the PSAs will begin airing on radio, television, and cable from mid-November through early December 2006 in the metropolitan Baltimore, Eastern Shore, Hagerstown, Frederick and metropolitan District of Columbia areas.  Billboards have been purchased on high-trafficked highways and thoroughfares around Maryland, and Resource Guides are being inserted in local newspapers statewide.

The other three public service announcements will air in April 2007, as well as  community outreach events, during National Rape and Sexual Assault Prevention Month.

silence is not the solution - most rapists are people you know. Speak Out! 1-800-656-HOPE, 24-hr. rape crisis hotline