NEWS RELEASE
November
22, 2002
Poster
campaign designed to raise awareness of childhood sexual abuse
A
bus poster designed by Visual Communications students from the University
of South Australia will be the centrepiece in a Women’s Health Statewide
campaign to raise awareness of the issues facing adult survivors of
childhood sexual abuse.
As
part of the international 16 Days of Action Against Gender Violence
from November 25 – December 10, the poster will appear on 11
passenger buses in Adelaide.
With the message ‘1 in 3 women are survivors of childhood sexual abuse,
we are your grandmothers, mothers, sisters, daughters, partners, cousins,
friends … Listen, believe … make our journey easier’, the concept and
design of the poster was by Erica Nistico and illustrated by Naomi Fry in
consultation with members of sexual abuse survivor support groups, UniSA
social work students and Women’s Health Statewide.
The illustration features a dandelion with spores floating away in the
wind. With each of the spores representing a person, it signifies the
healing journey of survivors of childhood sexual abuse.
Two postcard designs – one highlighting women’s experience, and another
focussing on the fact that one in six men are survivors of childhood
sexual abuse – were also produced by Nistico and Fry. 10,000 postcards
will be distributed across Adelaide by AvantCard and Women’s Health
Statewide.
Nistico’s design was chosen from a number of entries by honours students
from UniSA’s Visual Communications Consultancy, a graphic design service
designed to give students experience working on real-world projects.
“We realised fairly quickly that we couldn’t depict people in the design,
because that would objectify the type of people that sexual abuse
survivors are,” Nistico said. “We centred on the journey and the healing
process, trying to look at it through a positive light.
“The subject matter is quite confronting and I was shocked by the
statistics, but working on the project made it easier for me and my
classmates to talk about it – that must show that the campaign is working
already.
“It was a really good opportunity to be able to work on this project and
it’s a really important message that we wanted to get across.”
Fred Littlejohn, a UniSA lecturer and director of the Visual
Communications Consultancy, said this was one of a long list of projects
that students had been involved with as part of the consultancy.
“It gives students the experience of working directly with clients in the
industry, supervising projects from beginning to end, whether it is for
print or electronic production. The consultancy has many such projects,
some having won industry design awards,” he said.
Photo
opportunity:
A bus with the poster
will be on display at the launch of the 16 Days of Activism Against
Gender Violence campaign on Monday, November 25 from
12-2 pm at the
Migration Museum,
82 Kintore Avenue,
Adelaide.
The campaign will be launched at 1.15pm. The students involved will be
present along with Ann-Marie Hayes, Director of Women’s Health Statewide,
and special guest Senator Natasha Stott Despoja.
Media Contacts
Student designers: Erica Nistico 0404 447 073 Naomi Fry
0401 087 716
Visual Communications Consultancy Director, Fred Littlejohn: (08) 8302
0678 email fred.littlejohn@unisa.edu.au
Charlotte Knottenbelt Media Officer UniSA Ph: (08) 8302 0578 Mobile: 0439
807 004 Fax: (08) 8302 0977 Email:
charlotte.knottenbelt@unisa.edu.au
For information about the latest
research into survivors of childhood sexual abuse, contact Mary Freer from
UniSA’s School of Social Work and Social Policy ph: 0438 867 221
