Attorney general announces video contest to fight campus sexual assaults

In 2015, one in five women and one in 16 men were sexually assaulted on college campuses in Kentucky. Few of those crimes were reported.

Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear wants to change that. On March 22, he came to the Belknap Campus to announce that his office is launching a video contest for students to help raise awareness of campus sexual assaults and aid in their prevention.

Details of Beshear’s “Voice of Justice” video contest can be found on the attorney general’s website, ag.ky.gov. The competition has two $500 prizes — one awarded by a panel of experts, another based on the video that gets the most views. Submissions are due April 1.

“What I love about this contest is that it’s students protecting students,” Beshear said Wednesday at a news conference in the Ekstrom Library’s Bingham Poetry Room.

Joining Beshear in announcing the contest was Student Government Association President Aaron Vance. He said his goal is to ensure that sexual assault “isn’t taken lightly on any college campus.”

The University of Louisville offers a variety of services for victims of sexual violence and harassment through the PEACC Center. PEACC stands for Prevention, Education, Advocacy on Campus and Community.

That programming reaches thousands of students each year, according to PEACC Center Director Sally Evans. She said that any report made to the center “matters and is taken seriously.”

Video from Beshear's UofL visit is included below: