BackBone Zone
Maine Boys to Men has joined forces with MECASA, Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault, to create the Backbone Zone; a campaign that speaks directly to students, helping them to find—and use—their backbones.
The Problem:
In 2009, over 13 percent of Maine high school students reported that they had been forced to have sexual contact in their lifetime (18 percent of females, 9 percent of males). Fifteen percent do not agree with the statement “I feel safe at my school.” Over 10 percent report having been harassed or attacked at school because of their perceived masculinity or femininity.
Almost 20 percent (24 percent of females, 15 percent of males) have been the target or offensive sexual comments at school or on the way to or from school.
School climate plays a crucial role in students’ safety and their ability to learn effectively. The good news is that there are steps that we can take to improve school climate and reduce gender stereotypes and gender-based violence.
The Solution:
The Backbone Zone project is an innovative approach to bystander intervention, and is about helping people recognize the actions that everyone can take to change the world they live in.
Recognizing sexist and homophobic language, realizing that it has an impact, encouraging students to choose different words, and giving them the skills to be active bystanders when
they hear sexist and homophobic language: these are steps that each one of us can take to end gender-stereotypes, and to help end sexual violence.
Everybody has a backbone. The Backbone Zone project is a campaign that speaks directly to students, helping them to find—and use—their backbones.
FMI or to order posters, visit the: Backbone Zone
Other Community Resources
Add Verb Productions
Theater for Social Change
Family Crisis Services
Family Crisis Services: Working to End Domestic Violence
Hardy Girls Healthy Women
Dedicated to the health and well being of girls and women
MECASA
Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault
SARSSM
Sexual Assault Response Services of Southern Maine
