Designing, Implementing, and Evaluating a Media Campaign Illustrating the Bystander Role

SUMMARY Recent research found that training men and women to understand the role of bystanders in situations where violence against women (VAW) is occurring may reduce the incidence of VAW (Moynihan & Banyard, 2004 Banyard , V. L. , Plante , E. G. , & Moynihan , M. M. ( 2004 ). Bystander education: Bringing a broader community perspective to violence against women prevention . Journal of Community Psychology , 32 , 61 – 79 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Therefore a public awareness campaign to increase understanding of the prosocial role of bystanders in reducing VAW was developed and implemented. The current article discusses the role of media campaigns in addressing public health issues and describes the initial development, implementation, and evaluation of a media campaign focused on the bystander role in reducing the incidence of VAW. Conclusions and future directions of this exploratory project are discussed.