Don't Be That Guy 2013

Sex without consent is sexual assault, also known as, rape.

On Thursday, July 4th, 2013, Battered Women’s Support Services has partnered with Vancouver Police Department, Bar Watch, WAVAW and BC Women’s Hospital and Health Centre in Don’t Be That Guy for the second time. Don’t Be That Guy – a behavioural marketing campaign sends the message that sex without consent is sexual assault. We are sending a visual message to men between the ages of 18 – 25, graphically demonstrating their role in ending alcohol facilitated sexual assaults. Don’t Be That Guy shifts the emphasis to men to take responsibility for their behaviour. Studies involving 18-25 year old men revealed that 48 per cent of the men did not consider it rape if a woman is too drunk to know what is going on.

The original vision for Don’t Be That Guy was a community collaboration in Edmonton, Alberta in response to recognition of increased reports of alcohol facilitated sexual assaults in their city. The community collaboration called themselves SAVE (Sexual Assault Voices of Edmonton) and their major partners were Edmonton Police Service, Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton, University of Alberta Sexual Assault Centre, Saffron Centre, Alberta Health Services – Covenant Health, Prostitution Action and Awareness Foundation of Edmonton, University of Alberta Women’s Studies Program, Red Cross (Edmonton), Responsible Hospitality Edmonton and several community advocates.

Typically, sexual assault awareness campaigns target potential victims/women by urging women to restrict their behaviour. We know through our work at Battered Women’s Support Services and research confirms that women are, on a daily basis, taking remarkable steps to prevent victimization, and that targeting the behaviour of victims is not only ineffective, but also contributes to how much they, the offender and the larger public (including law enforcement and justice system) blame women after the assault. Here’s more information about Sexual Assault – Rape. The behaviour of men, including the sense of entitlement in regards to sex and access to women’s bodies is what is being challenged through this campaign. Don’t Be That Guy is urging men to end rape.

In order to effect change and end rape we must put the onus on the ones responsible for the assault to be responsible for stopping it. Don’t Be That Guy is intended to address alcohol-facilitated sexual assault without victim-blaming. These seven posters are appearing in restrooms in Vancouver downtown core bar district. Bar district staff are being trained to recognize and respond to situations of risk, to hold potential offenders responsible and to ensure the safety of potential victims.

Battered Women’s Support Services has been working to prevent violence against women for 34 years. For 22 years we have delivered violence prevention and healthy relationships information to youth in middle and high schools in BC. Our Youth Engagement in Violence Prevention Program entails a heavy emphasis on “by-stander” intervention components, urging those who are silent and witnessing to become engaged participants to respond to instances of domestic and/or sexual violence. When we launched The Violence Stops Here in 2010, Battered Women’s Support Services urged men to own their role in ending violence against women. Last year we responded to 10,000 requests for information and support.