§20131 — Title 34 Navy | U.S. Code

§20131 Media campaign

Title 34 › Subtitle Subtitle II— - Protection of Children and Other Persons › Chapter CHAPTER 201— - VICTIM RIGHTS, COMPENSATION, AND ASSISTANCE › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER II— - VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, DATING VIOLENCE, SEXUAL ASSAULT, AND STALKING › § 20131

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Director (the head of the Office on Violence Against Women) must run a national "Choose Respect" media campaign when it is feasible and appropriate. The campaign’s goals are to stop and discourage violence against women (including domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking) by changing attitudes of people who might commit these crimes, to encourage victims to get help (including legal help), and to tell the public what help is available. Money for the campaign may pay for buying media time and space, making and testing ads, creative and talent costs (using donated creative work when possible and buying it only for urgent needs or to reach special audiences), hiring contractors, partnerships with community and faith groups, outreach to entertainment and sports, and running the program. All ads must be tested before wide use, though a small share (no more than 10% of time or space in a year) can be exempt in emergencies or for limited use. The Attorney General must name an independent evaluator by April 20 each year to check whether the campaign changes attitudes or behaviors. The Director sets the overall strategy, approves the strategy, ads, and buying plan, and may consult federal, state, tribal, nonprofit, and communications experts. The campaign must follow rules: funds cannot replace local anti-violence efforts or donated public service time, cannot be used for partisan politics or to feature elected or certain federal officials, and must focus on preventing violence (not on promoting the campaign or fundraising). The Director must run audits and send Congress an annual report with strategy, spending, contracts, audits, and evaluation results. The law authorizes $5,000,000 each year for fiscal years 2023 through 2027, available until spent.

Title 34, §20131

Navy — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(1)In this subsection:

(A)The term “Director” means the Director of the Office on Violence Against Women.

(B)The term “national media campaign” means the national “Choose Respect” media campaign described in paragraph (2).

(2)The Director shall, to the extent feasible and appropriate, conduct a national “Choose Respect” media campaign in accordance with this section for the purposes of—

(A)preventing and discouraging violence against women, including domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking by targeting the attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs of individuals who have or are likely to commit such crimes;

(B)encouraging victims of the crimes described in subparagraph (A) to seek help through the means determined to be most effective by the most current evidence available, including seeking legal representation; and

(C)informing the public about the help available to victims of the crimes described in subparagraph (A).

(3)(A)Amounts made available to carry out this section for the national media campaign may only be used for the following:

(i)The purchase of media time and space, including the strategic planning for, tracking, and accounting of, such purchases.

(ii)Creative and talent costs, consistent with subparagraph (B).

(iii)Advertising production costs, which may include television, radio, internet, social media, and other commercial marketing venues.

(iv)Testing and evaluation of advertising.

(v)Evaluation of the effectiveness of the national media campaign.

(vi)Costs of contracts to carry out activities authorized by this subsection.

(vii)Partnerships with professional and civic groups, community-based organizations, including faith-based organizations and culturally specific organizations, and government organizations related to the national media campaign.

(viii)Entertainment industry outreach, interactive outreach, media projects and activities, public information, news media outreach, corporate sponsorship and participation, and professional sports associations and military branch participation.

(ix)Operational and management expenses.

(B)(i)In using amounts for creative and talent costs under subparagraph (A), the Director shall use creative services donated at no cost to the Government wherever feasible and may only procure creative services for advertising—

(I)responding to high-priority or emergent campaign needs that cannot timely be obtained at no cost; or

(II)intended to reach a minority, ethnic, or other special audience that cannot reasonably be obtained at no cost.

(ii)In using amounts for testing and evaluation of advertising under subparagraph (A)(iv), the Director shall test all advertisements prior to use in the national media campaign to ensure that the advertisements are effective with the target audience and meet industry-accepted standards. The Director may waive this requirement for advertisements using not more than 10 percent of the purchase of advertising time purchased under this section in a fiscal year and not more than 10 percent of the advertising space purchased under this section in a fiscal year, if the advertisements respond to emergent and time-sensitive campaign needs or the advertisements will not be widely utilized in the national media campaign.

(iii)For the planning of the campaign under paragraph (2), the Director may consult with—

(I)the Office for Victims of Crime, the Administration on Children, Youth and Families, and other related Federal Government entities;

(II)State, local, and Indian Tribal governments;

(III)the prevention of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking, including national and local non-profits; and

(IV)communications professionals.

(iv)In using amounts for the evaluation of the effectiveness of the national media campaign under subparagraph (A)(v), the Attorney General shall—

(I)designate an independent entity to evaluate by April 20 of each year the effectiveness of the national media campaign based on data from any relevant studies or publications, as determined by the Attorney General, including tracking and evaluation data collected according to marketing and advertising industry standards; and

(II)ensure that the effectiveness of the national media campaign is evaluated in a manner that enables consideration of whether the national media campaign has contributed to changes in attitude or behaviors among the target audience with respect to violence against women and such other measures of evaluation as the Attorney General determines are appropriate.

(4)In carrying out this subsection, the Director shall ensure that sufficient funds are allocated to meet the stated goals of the national media campaign.

(5)(A)The Director shall determine the overall purposes and strategy of the national media campaign.

(B)(i)The Director shall approve—

(I)the strategy of the national media campaign;

(II)all advertising and promotional material used in the national media campaign; and

(III)the plan for the purchase of advertising time and space for the national media campaign.

(ii)The Director shall be responsible for implementing a focused national media campaign to meet the purposes described in paragraph (2) and shall ensure—

(I)information disseminated through the campaign is accurate and scientifically valid; and

(II)the campaign is designed using strategies demonstrated to be the most effective at achieving the goals and requirements of paragraph (2), which may include—

(aa)a media campaign, as described in paragraph (3);

(bb)local, regional, or population specific messaging;

(cc)the development of websites to publicize and disseminate information;

(dd)conducting outreach and providing educational resources for women;

(ee)collaborating with law enforcement agencies; and

(ff)providing support for school-based public health education classes to improve teen knowledge about the effects of violence against women.

(6)None of the amounts made available under paragraph (3) may be obligated or expended for any of the following:

(A)To supplant current antiviolence against women campaigns by community-based coalitions.

(B)To supplant pro bono public service time donated by national and local broadcasting networks for other public service campaigns.

(C)For partisan political purposes, or to express advocacy in support of or to defeat any clearly identified candidate, clearly identified ballot initiative, or clearly identified legislative or regulatory proposal.

(D)To fund advertising that features any elected officials, persons seeking elected office, cabinet level officials, or other Federal officials employed pursuant to schedule C of subpart C of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations.

(E)To fund advertising that does not contain a primary message intended to reduce or prevent violence against women.

(F)To fund advertising containing a primary message intended to promote support for the national media campaign or private sector contributions to the national media campaign.

(7)The Director shall cause to be performed—

(A)audits and reviews of costs of the national media campaign pursuant to section 4706 of title 41; and

(B)an audit to determine whether the costs of the national media campaign are allowable under chapter 43 of title 41.

(8)The Director shall submit on an annual basis a report to Congress that describes—

(A)the strategy of the national media campaign and whether specific objectives of the national media campaign were accomplished;

(B)steps taken to ensure that the national media campaign operates in an effective and efficient manner consistent with the overall strategy and focus of the national media campaign;

(C)plans to purchase advertising time and space;

(D)policies and practices implemented to ensure that Federal funds are used responsibly to purchase advertising time and space and eliminate the potential for waste, fraud, and abuse;

(E)all contracts entered into with a corporation, partnership, or individual working on behalf of the national media campaign;

(F)the results of any financial audit of the national media campaign;

(G)a description of any evidence used to develop the national media campaign;

(H)specific policies and steps implemented to ensure compliance with this subsection;

(I)a detailed accounting of the amount of funds obligated during the previous fiscal year for carrying out the national media campaign, including each recipient of funds, the purpose of each expenditure, the amount of each expenditure, any available outcome information, and any other information necessary to provide a complete accounting of the funds expended; and

(J)a review and evaluation of the effectiveness of the national media campaign strategy for the previous year.

(9)There are authorized to be appropriated to the Director to carry out this section $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2027, to remain available until expended.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

This subsection, referred to in pars. (1), (3)(A)(vi), (4), and (8)(H), is subsec. (c) of section 1310 of div. W of Pub. L. 117–103, which is classified to this section.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Section not effective until Oct. 1 of the first fiscal year beginning after Mar. 15, 2022, see section 4(a) of div. W of Pub. L. 117–103, set out as a note under section 6851 of Title 15, Commerce and Trade. Definitions For definitions of terms used in this section, see section 12291 of this title, as made applicable by section 2(b) of div. W of Pub. L. 117–103, which is set out as a note under section 12291 of this title.