Teenagers asked: "Would you see rape?" as ad campaign goes live
Nick Clegg: "We want to bring this issue out into the open and get young people talking about the importance of consent."
A powerful new Home Office advertising campaign challenging teenagers to re-think their views of what constitutes rape and consent will be launched by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone today.
A third of teenage girls and 16 per cent of boys report that they have experienced some form of sexual violence from a boyfriend or girlfriend, and NSPCC research shows that the highest proportion of sexual abuse (66 per cent) is perpetrated by young people under 18 years old.
Evidence from surveys also shows that while most teenagers know that rape is wrong, they don’t always know what constitutes rape. Many believe it only occurs on rare occasions and consider rape as a ‘violent attack on a stranger’, rather than something that could occur in their own relationships. This new campaign will challenge those perceptions, putting the viewer at the centre of a disturbing scenario. This is the first advertising campaign targeting teenagers about rape.
The TV, cinema and online advertising campaign is in partnership with charities including the NSPCC, Rape Crisis and Survivors Trust.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said:
This hard-hitting campaign shows that rape is not just about violent attacks by strangers.
We want to bring this issue out into the open and get young people talking about the importance of consent.
The campaign will give teenagers the facts and support they need to recognise abuse and form healthy relationships.