You wouldn’t sober, you shouldn’t drunk: A behavioural change approach to changing attitudes and responses to unwanted sexual attention in pubs and clubs

The objective was to evaluate a campaign designed to influence social norms and re-establish boundaries around the issue of unwanted sexual attention in pubs and clubs. In particular, the campaign aimed to raise awareness, and reduce the acceptability, of unwanted sexual attention when drunk. Methods: A before-after-with-control group study design was used to evaluate campaign effectiveness. The data was further segmented to explore gender differences and between individuals who reported enjoying going out to get drunk and those who did not. Results: The experimental group with campaign recall demonstrated a significant change in their attitudes to harmful drinking behaviours and unwanted sexual attention compared to the control group. A number of gender differences as well as drink-enjoyment-related differences pre- and post-campaign were observed. Female respondents who were able to recall the campaign demon- strated a significantly lower tolerance of unwanted sexual attention than those who were unable to recall it in either the experimental or control regions. The campaign had limited impact on peo- ple who enjoy drunken night outs (DNOs). However, those who do not enjoy DNOs demonstrated significantly higher negative attitudes towards harmful drinking post-campaign recall. Conclusion: The campaign was effective in shifting attitudes towards unwanted sexual attention and harmful drinking behaviour. This was particularly observed among female respondents and those who do not enjoy DNOs. Short summary: Drinkaware’s ‘You Wouldn’t Sober, You Shouldn’t Drunk’ behavioural change campaign targets young adults living in North-West England participating in ‘drunken nights out’. The experimental group with campaign recall demonstrated a significant change in their attitudes to harmful drinking behaviours and unwanted sexual attention compared to the control group.