The Canadian Women’s Foundation has launched a new public awareness campaign to shed light on the issue of sexual consent.
An April 2015 study from the foundation found roughly two thirds of Canadians (67%) do not understand what consent means. The foundation said consent must be positive and ongoing throughout the duration of the sexual activity, and be a two-way communication.
The campaign includes a video that highlights the importance of giving and getting consent, using everyday scenarios like requesting gravy in a restaurant or asking for a trim at a hair salon, with unintended and humorous results.
“There’s obviously a great need to continue the conversation about consent, so that every Canadian knows how to properly give and get consent,” said Natasha Wilson, director of marketing and communications at the Canadian Women’s Foundation, which works to stop violence against women, end poverty and empower girls.
“Through this campaign, we’re demonstrating that consent to sexual activity is no different than consent to everyday situations. The Get Consent campaign attempts to show how ridiculous it is when a person fails to get consent in those everyday situations.”
The video will run on screens at mall and office locations nationwide, in transit networks in six major markets through Pattison Onestop, as well as the 15 largest Cineplex Odeon theatres in Canada.
As for the use of humour in the campaign, Wilson said it’s in “no way meant to treat sex assault as a joke. Sexual assault is a very serious crime… We’re aiming to reach a very broad audience: all Canadians, regardless of age, gender or sexual orientation, by drawing parallels between consent and these situations that we can relate to in our everyday lives.”
Radio spots will air across the country on Rogers network stations. In the ad, a pilot changes the destination to one that was on his bucket list, extending the flight time for passengers by 20 hours.
“This is another attempt at showing that in an everyday situation that this isn’t what I asked for,” said Wilson. “So the radio ads follow a similar tone [to the video], in how ridiculous [that situation] would be.”
The microsite GetConsent.ca has facts about consent, tips on how to ensure consent is understood, as well as information on how to help the Canadian Women’s Foundation support women across Canada.
Toronto-based Edelman created the pro bono campaign with support from Assymetric and Apollo Studios.
The Canadian Women’s Foundation is also working with campuses across the country to see how information about sexual consent can be incorporated into campus-level activities such as Spirit Week.
