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Posters that aimed to educate young men about sexual assault have been removed from some ACT government offices after older male workers complained they were too confronting. The signs were put up in toilets at licensed venues and in some government directorates as part of an annual campaign against sexual violence. Summer of Respect has been run by the Women's Centre for Health Matters and Canberra Rape Crisis Centre since 2011 and seeks to prompt discussions about consent and respect. One of the comic book-style posters shows a woman passed out on a bed as a man says: "She didn't say it, but I can tell she wants it." The slogan below reads: "If she's drunk, on drugs, or passed out, he doesn't have permission. Tell him." Another depicts a man holding up a phone with an image of a bare-breasted woman on it as a caution on "sexting", while another says consent for sex can't be bought. An ACT government spokeswoman said the posters targeted young men in entertainment venues such as clubs and pubs and all directorates were allowed to display the posters as they found appropriate. The posters, "were not considered by all directorates to be appropriate in all workplaces for all male workers of all ages", the spokeswoman said. The posters were created as part of the campaign which started in the summer of 2013 but were reissued as part of this year's push. They targeted men aged 18 to 35 and were designed to promote respect and to encourage bystanders who witnessed sexual harassment to intervene. Last summer more than 400 posters were put up in men's toilets in 15 pubs and clubs across Canberra, as well as university campuses. Women's Centre for Health Matters executive director Marcia Williams said the posters had generated a lot of feedback and the reaction was "quite surprising". "The posters were obviously Canberra, you could see things like the Sydney building in the background, and quite blunt. "It was deliberately targeted at younger men and older men were quite confronted by it. "Even now, putting them in government offices, older men often find them quite confronting. "There was one location where men were offended because they were all about women." Ms Williams understood the posters had been well received in the some directorates but would not be drawn on which offices the signs had been removed from. "It's probably an area that has quite a few older men around." Ms Williams said the reaction showed the need for a culture shift when it came to discussions within the community about sexual violence. "It sort of shows how hard it is to change on these issues. "It's like domestic violence, whole areas of Canberra don't believe it happens because they don't see it." Canberra Rape Crisis Centre community engagement manager Sue Webeck said messages around sexual assault could be difficult to hear, read and see because of social and cultural norms. "We live in a society where we don't really talk about sexuality or sexual health, so often when we talk about sexual assault people have a strong ethical response." She said while the campaign was directed towards young men, anti-sexual violence messages should be spread across all male demographics. Ms Webeck said the campaign raised an important public conversation about sexual assault that the crisis centre was keen to support and continue. "For us, the Summer of Respect campaign is about having a consistent presence around primary prevention." This year the it included an expanded website, What to Say?, which is aimed at helping women and workers know how to respond to incidents of sexual violence in the community or workplace. The campaign posters were designed for pubs and clubs and were designed and produced with $10,000 provided by the Justice and Community Safety Directorate through the Confiscation of Criminal Assets Trust Fund. The campaign was recognised at the Australian Crime and Violence Prevention Awards in November last year.

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