The project will be dedicated to the improvement of the struggle against sexual violence in the United States at the macro level. It will provide a developed marketing strategy, as well as action, control, and contingency plans. The mentioned strategy will be designed for non-commercial organizations that contribute to handling the problem given.
The theme is worthy of investigation due to the situation around sexual violence in the US. Particularly, in the country, sexual violence and rape affect about 464,000 victims annually on average. The country has seen millions of rape cases; approximately 17 million American females were victims of attempted or actual rape as of 1998. Teenage girls are particularly in danger – all adolescent victims are mostly girls. Then, in terms of sexual assault, harassment is the aspect that should be stressed. In the entire country, 81% of women said they had ever been the victim of sexual harassment.
The primary aims of the project are to improve the extent of cooperation between the organizations that fight against sexual violence, increase the level of awareness regarding the issue among the population, involve governmental funds, and establish solid connections with local communities. The achievement of the provided objectives will contribute to better reporting rates of sexual violence cases, an improved framework for dealing with harassment, and a developed mechanism of response to severe manifestations of sexual violence.
Thus, the project is related to the significant issue of sexual violence that requires efforts from every citizen to overcome it. It is expected that the designed framework can be used by many organizations at the macro level in terms of their marketing affairs. The provided strategy is quite flexible and can be implemented under various conditions statewide.
Executive Summary
The project is dedicated to the improvement of the struggle against sexual violence in the United States at the macro level. It will provide a developed marketing strategy, as well as action, control, and contingency plans. The mentioned strategy is be designed for non-commercial organizations that contribute to handling the problem given. The primary aims of the project are to improve the extent of cooperation between the organizations, increase awareness regarding the issue among the population, involve governmental funds, and establish solid connections with local communities.
Current Situation
Unfortunately, the country demonstrates high rates of sexual violence statewide. In the US, sexual violence and rape affect 463,634 victims annually on average (Rainn, n.d.). The country has seen millions of rape cases; an approximated 17.7 million American females were victims of attempted or actual rape as of 1998 (Rainn, n.d.). Teenage girls are particularly in danger – all adolescent victims are mostly girls (82%); females make up 90% of adult rape victims (Rainn., n.d.). In comparison to the overall population, females aged 16 to 19 are four times more likely to experience rape, indecent assault, or sexual abuse. Following a sexual assault, a person is more likely to experience depression or suicidal thoughts.
Article 120 of 10 US Code § 920 on rape and sexual assault is a crucial piece of legislation that regulates and determines the essence of sexual violence in the country. Aside from this, the Debbie Smith Act, Clery Act, Campus SaVe Act, SAFER Act, and Victims of Crime Act should be mentioned in this vein (Zinsstag & Keenan, 2017). These laws form the legal foundation to fight sexual violence in the United States in general.
However, in terms of sexual assault, harassment is the aspect that should be stressed, given the situation around it in the US. In the entire country, 81% of women said they had ever been the victim of sexual harassment (Rainn, n.d.). Nevertheless, the first country that took a step towards resolving the issue of harassment and sexual assault, determining measures of influence and punishment for harassment, was the United States.
Although there is no federal law on harassment in the United States, when considering such cases in the US, in most cases, courts rely on the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits most of the discrimination that is included in the term harassment. In 1977, when lawyer and feminist Katherine McKinnon argued that workplace harassment constituted gender discrimination and was illegal. The Supreme Court agreed with McKinnon in 1986, but the real upheaval came in 1991, during the hearing of the case of Anita Hill, who accused Clarence Thomas of raping her in her employment (Zinsstag & Keenan, 2017). Hill’s speech led to an awakening in the public consciousness and prompted many women to come forward with their own stories; one such example is the #MeToo movement. This hashtag was created by Tarana Burke, popularized by actress Alyssa Milano, and has taken on unprecedented proportions since the Harvey Weinstein case.
In the United States, sexual harassment of various kinds is prescribed in a number of legal acts. Forcing another person to have sexual intercourse through threats or intimidation is criminalized by section 2242 of title 18 of the United States Code (Zinsstag & Keenan, 2017). Since such problems occur predominantly in the workplace, the first act to prevent harassment can be considered the Civil Rights Act, as mentioned above. Section VII of the document prohibits discrimination based on race, religion, gender, or nationality.
Barnes v. Train is considered the first sexual harassment case in the United States, although the term was not used, and the court dismissed the case for the first time. Paulette Barnes of the Equal Opportunity Division of the Environmental Protection Agency stated that her job was terminated because she refused to communicate with her employer; the case was retried in 1977 (Zinsstag & Keenan, 2017). During the trial, Barnes claimed that she was discriminated against not because she was a woman but because of the refusal.
Key Issues
Without a doubt, the statistics do not reflect the true picture of this type of crime. Violent acts of a sexual nature are characterized by high latency. According to numerous studies, only about half of the crimes related to sexual violence are investigated. It has been established that many victims and persons who have become aware of such acts do not turn to law enforcement agencies for help at all (Johnson, 2017). At the same time, a significant part of them, even in the case of applications from victims, are not registered for fear that they will not be disclosed. This will have a negative impact on crime detection rates. It is not uncommon for cases when statements about these acts are registered, but in the future, due to the poor quality of the investigation, the fact of forced sexual intercourse is not established.
The main common mistake is an incomplete and poor-quality check of suspected persons. On the basis of the received unverified data, hasty conclusions are drawn about the non-involvement of the person being checked in the commission of the crime (Johnson, 2017). The problematic nature of the investigation of sexual crimes is also due to the lack of a systematic analysis and generalization of the mistakes made during the investigation. It must be emphasized that the problems of sexual violence must be considered in a complex – as a single system.
At this point, key issues around the phenomenon of harassment should be presented. Harassment is destructive behavior of any kind with a huge range of negative impacts directed at another person. Nevertheless, it is sexual harassment (of both types) that is most often classified as harassment, equating these concepts (Zinsstag & Keenan, 2017). Given that sexual harassment can take many forms, it can sometimes go unnoticed or mistaken for something that is not. It is important to be able to recognize when a person is indeed dealing with sexual harassment, as false accusations and misunderstandings of the situation can be traumatic, stressful, and have a devastating effect on the lives of both parties.
Generally, sexual relations, offensive sexual gestures, and verbal and physical acts of a sexual nature are considered sexual harassment, the key categories for which are the unwantedness and refusal of these actions on the part of the victim. A person can become a victim of harassment, even if sexual harassment was not directed directly at them – because of the negative experience due to the fact that they have become a witness to what is happening.
Sexual harassment does not take into account the gender of the victim or the perpetrator—both can be male or female. It is worth noting that harassment is often found at work, where there are hierarchical relationships between subordinates and employers. According to a number of studies, the number of consultation requests for sexual violence is on the rise. For example, newly hired workers are pressured by company presidents to have sexual relations, and if they refuse, they are fired. There are also reports that male managers touch body parts of female employees without agreement during working hours, and bosses invite female employees on dates, forcing women to leave the company for a long time.
In extreme cases, sexual abuse can lead to severe depression or even suicide. A victim of sexual harassment is afraid to file a complaint because she risks losing her job and therefore being unable to support herself (Zinsstag & Keenan, 2017). Studies show that for a third of women who seek help for mental illness, the causes of such disorders are sexual harassment, bullying, and abuse of power by superiors.
Particular attention is drawn to archaic elements, the inseparability of the family, and sexuality in labor relations. Formal regulation of labor relations is prescribed only in large companies (Zinsstag & Keenan, 2017). In all other cases, there is a mixture of private and public, and simple connections are often more convenient for both parties – employer and employee. The latter is often completely dependent on the former, while these simple connections provide a very easy and affordable channel for mobility while pursuing a career, receiving other bonuses, and living a comfortable life cycle.
Objectives
The project will be designed for non-commercial organizations involved in the field of fighting against sexual violence in the US. The primary objectives will be to improve the extent of cooperation between these organizations, increase the level of awareness regarding the issue among the population, involve governmental funds, and establish solid connections with local communities. The achievement of the provided objectives will contribute to better reporting rates of sexual violence cases, an improved framework for dealing with harassment, and a developed mechanism of response to severe manifestations of sexual violence.
Marketing Strategy
An effective marketing strategy for non-profit organizations will include educating the audience about the organization’s history and engaging in relevant missions. One needs to build a strategy from scratch. Stakeholders will start with why the organization exists and what message it brings. Every aspect of marketing should be aimed at maintaining it. Advertising events, fundraising – everything should be related to the mission of combating sexual violence (Pasquier & Villeneuve, 2018). This will make people feel like they are part of something important.
The next step in building a solid non-profit marketing strategy is to define specific goals and objectives. This will help organizations understand what needs to be achieved and set the standard for success. In particular, one of the goals will be to increase the number of donations. In this case, they can set a goal to collect donations in the amount of $100,000 per month for six months.
Every successful marketing strategy starts with a deep understanding of the audience. This is necessary in order to directly contact those who support organizations that fight against sexual violence. Within this scope, it will be reasonable to utilize client contact systems. CRM will be a significant tool here, which will allow being in contact with the customer base on a regular basis.
A brand is not only a product or service, and it is a collection of all your actions. A strong brand will make the positioning of anti-sexual violence organizations at the macro level clearer (Pasquier & Villeneuve, 2018). In addition, sponsors like strong brands as they give them confidence in their investment. In this regard, organizations should also generate engaging content. They need to show their audience they are an organization different from others. This is where content marketing comes in. With its help, it will be demonstrated that the activity is aimed at any improvement at the local or statewide level.
Audience engagement is the next important element of the strategy in the fight against sexual violence. Constant connection with the audience is a prerequisite for success in non-profit marketing (Pasquier & Villeneuve, 2018). Organizations should develop their websites because this is where people can learn about them and join their mission. Up-to-date news about their activities should be posted regularly. Social media accounts are also great for this purpose.
However, if organizations fail to measure their success, then they are not implementing their strategy properly. For example, to raise people’s awareness of an issue and also make the organization more recognizable, you can set up Google Alerts. In this way, it will be possible to find out how often the media mentions the organizations involved in the fight against sexual violence. Then, when a new website or social media campaign is launched, one needs to track the number of unique visitors and conversions. In this case, tools such as Google Analytics will help.
Action Plans
With a limited budget, non-profit marketers need to use all means to gain new supporters and attract donations. Non-commercial marketing is different in that it promotes the work of those organizations or people who solve socially significant problems – as in the case of the fight against sexual violence. The first platform that will promote the activities of non-profit organizations will be Instagram. It is worth paying attention to new formats that engage the audience: Reels, short videos, stickers with polls, tests and interactive elements, music in Stories, and live broadcasts. And the Shopping tags function allows you to mark a thing or service. With the new feature, it is much more convenient to talk about charity merchandise or donation collection.
Next, organizations should appeal to Google Ad Grants, a special loyalty program that helps non-profit companies talk about their projects. Each month, Google Ad Grants allocate $10,000 to Google Ads so that a non-profit organization can advertise itself for free or at a lower cost. However, organizations need to be prepared for the complexities that come when a team starts customizing ads for users. Moreover, joint merch, collaborations, contests, and posts with influencers have been helping non-profit organizations to attract attention to their work and get new subscribers and donations for many years (Boerman & MĂĽller, 2020). With the help of a blogger, an organization gains the trust of the general public. It is not necessary to seek support from bloggers with a million audience; attention should be paid to popular local bloggers.
Controls
The responsibility for implementing control over donations due to the implementation of the marketing strategy lies with the controller of marketing activities. Its purpose is to check the sources of receipt and expenditure of funds. The heads of headquarters and line services will be responsible for monitoring the effectiveness. The goal is the optimization of marketing activities, and the content is the analysis of the work of the sales department of advertisers, incentives, etc. Auditors or senior management will be responsible for strategic control. Its goal is the rational use of the capabilities and resources of the enterprise. During strategic control, an analysis of the conduct of the tasks, strategies, and programs of the organization is performed. This is a kind of revision in the form of a comprehensive, systematic, and objective study of the marketing environment, tasks, strategies, and the functioning of the company. The purpose of the audit is to identify not only new opportunities but also problems, as well as formulate recommendations for optimizing marketing strategy activities.
Contingency Plans
Unfortunately, the field of non-commercial marketing is associated with a number of risks that are mainly related to the absence of private funds. It is challenging to conduct the suggested amount of work by relying solely on potential donations and the organization’s enthusiasm. Hence, a number of contingency plans are to be developed, given the importance of the sphere of fighting against sexual violence in the country.
Taking into account the significance and relevance of the problem of sexual violence – especially the harassment theme – an alternative option will be to cooperate with some officials who promote the related struggle. They can promote the organizations and the problem itself via TV, their accounts on social media, and speeches. A drawback here is that the organizations’ brands will not be promoted directly, and they may be associated with political games.
Another alternative is to cooperate with private companies that are not directly involved in the sphere of the struggle against sexual violence. They can fund the organizations’ marketing campaigns; in return, the non-commercial companies can advertise this cooperation. However, again, the reputation can become spoiled to an exact degree, given the described profit-based approach.
References
Boerman, S. C., & Müller, C. M. (2020). Understanding which cues people use to identify influencer marketing on Instagram: an eye tracking study and experiment. International Journal of Advertising, 41(1), 6–29.
Johnson, H. (2017). Why doesn’t she just report it? Apprehensions and contradictions for women who report sexual violence to the police. Canadian Journal of Women and the Law, 29(1), 36–59.
Pasquier, M., & Villeneuve, J.-P. (2018). Marketing management and communications in the public sector. Routledge.
Rainn. (n.d.). Victims of sexual violence: Statistics.
Zinsstag, E., & Keenan, M. (2017). Restorative responses to sexual violence: Legal, social and therapeutic dimensions. Taylor & Francis.