THE Metro Vancouver Transit Police have entered a partnership with grade 12 students from Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School for their next anti-sex offence campaign. The objective is to bring awareness around sexual offending on public transit and to encourage victims and witnesses to report such incidents. 

The students reached out to the Transit Police and TransLink in June of last year to discuss past anti-sex offence messaging and to explore the potential of a refreshed campaign. They sought messaging to educate youth on what to do when they witness or experience a sexual offence on public transit. Transit Police and TransLink quickly jumped on the opportunity to collaborate with the student-led initiative for their latest campaign. 

Over the past year, the students have worked diligently on developing the campaign scope and creating the artwork for the advertisements that depict realistic situations of unwanted touching and the critical role that witnesses play in reporting sexual offences. They showcased clear leadership, initiative and creativity in seeing this campaign through to completion. 

In 2012, Transit Police designated sexual offending on transit as one of their top four priorities. Following this designation, Transit Police have run multiple campaigns to educate the public and put offenders on notice that sexual offending on transit will not be tolerated. One of the critical components of each campaign is highlighting their text reporting service and encouraging witnesses and victims to discreetly text Transit Police in real-time at 87-77-77 when an incident occurs.

On Tuesday, August 4, at 10 a.m., the Metro Vancouver Transit Police have invited the media to hear these students talk about the campaign and showcase the artwork created by them. They will be hosting the official campaign launch at 287 Nelson’s Court in New Westminster.