Safer Cornwall’s brief challenged students to produce a creative
campaign to promote behaviour change and encourage active bystander
interventions in situations including sexual abuse, harassment, stalking
and online harm.
Justyna Skowronska’s concept went live through outdoor
advertising, social media activity and presence on the Safer Cornwall
website this week in support of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, an annual international campaign led by the UN which runs from 25 November to 10 December 2022. The message was also reinforced via social media and a dedicated campaign micro-site. The campaign kicked off on social media with a call for stories of where someone stepped in and made a difference, so the stories on social media were from real (anonymised) local people.
Justyna’s concept focuses on the positive impact of bystander
intervention and will incorporate real-life experiences of receiving
help from an active bystander or being the person who stepped in and
safely intervened, shared by young people from across the county. Her campaign idea, ‘Not all Heroes Wear Capes’, emphasises the four actions you can take to safely step in: Direct, Distract, Delegate and Delay.
Falmouth and Penryn are home to thousands of students, including many
young women aged 16-24 – more than any other area in Cornwall. The area
also has a third more non-domestic VAWG crimes than the Cornwall
average – higher than other local areas but still extremely low.