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Electronic Games Take on Violence Against Women
PMC and the Emergent Media Center (EMC) at Champlain College have been awarded a grant from UNFPA to create an electronic game for adolescent boys aimed at preventing violence against women.
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The Electronic Game to End Gender Violence will evolve into a global initiative, with an initial focus on South Africa. It will provide alternative images and norms of behavior, focused on non-violence and respect. The central idea is to educate boys and young men that violence (against anyone, but certainly against girls and women) is wrong, that the prevailing definition of masculinity in any society is not the only alternative, and that even though males and females are physically different, girls and women are entitled to the same rights and opportunities as boys and men.
EMC is providing game design and technical expertise to construct a game that is playable, engaging, and achieves the identified goals. PMC is providing guidance on the use of entertainment-education strategies for positive behavior change, based on its decade of work using entertainment-education to improve the health and well-being of people around the world.
A team of 15 students majoring in e-game design, programming, art and animation, marketing, e-biz, software engineering, and education are tackling this very complex and challenging project. These students, in addition to the EMC staff and PMC’s Research Director, Scott Connolly traveled to Cape Town, South Africa for 10 days at the end of August to conduct formative research. The team was met by PMC’s Vice President for International Programs, Kriss Barker, who is now based in Cape Town.
The purpose of the trip was to conduct extensive cultural research focusing on consumer behavior, education, game play, art styles and influences, interpersonal relations, and gender inequalities. During their time in Cape Town, the team conducted focus groups and interviews with school children, teachers, university students, victims of abuse, aid workers, media specialists, political figures, and many other critical individuals and groups. The team also visited Cape Town’s various “townships” to gain a better understanding of the role poverty plays in the lives of youth and South Africa’s social constructs.
The experience and insight gained from this trip will help students and staff to develop a game prototype, which will include game concept options, a market analysis, delivery methods, design document, storyboards, character sketches, and color scripts.
Learn more about violence against women and electronic games.
Visit EMC’s blog, Games Take on Violence Against Women, and learn more about the student trip to South Africa and the process of developing the game.
