A collaboration between the Victorian AIDS Council and VicHealth will target the drinking culture among lesbian, bisexual and queer women in regional Victoria.
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The ReThink the Drink project was launched last night at the Bendigo Queer Film Festival and so far has received a positive response.
Rachel Cook from the VAC LBQ women’s health project said it was historic because it was the first project in Victoria which targeted LBQ women in regional areas.
“You can put an advertising campaign together, but in terms of speaking to who you actually want to reach you need to understand what the people are wanting to see and get from the project,” Ms Cook said.
“During our research we went to different areas and found that LBQ women do see high levels of drinking which makes them concerned about their community.
“And one of the main things they said was that it can be easy to feel quite isolated living in regional and rural areas.”
ReThink the Drink project aims to change the alcohol culture among LBQ women living in regional Victoria with a motivational and positive response to the issue with the tagline, ‘Couldn’t Have Done That with a Hangover’.
The project includes a digital and print campaign calling for women in regional communities to share their stories.
Ms Cook said people were very happy with the message of the project and with the way it was community based.
“When you hold these projects in regional and rural areas it shows how engaged the community is and how much they care about one another,” she said.
“Rural and regional people really care about what is going on in their community which is really great to see.”
The goal for the project is to start a conversation and to have LBQ women write personal stories about their relationship with drinking.
“We want them to reach out to us by submitting stories so that it engages other women and makes them realise that they are not alone,” Ms Cook said.
ReThink the Drink will also be launched in Ballarat, Morwell and Geelong as part of VicHealth’s Alcohol Culture Change Initiative.
For more information on the project or if you wish to be involved please visit the Victorian AIDS Council website.