Advocates with Helena's Friendship Center are taking a new approach this year to promote awareness of the problem of sexual assault in the Helena area.

Instead of calling upon concerned area residents to walk through town in a candlelight parade and gather for a vigil in recognition of the victims of sexual assault as part of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, center staff members say they are making a more proactive effort to stop the violence before it starts.

"In the past, it seemed like we were preaching to the choir," said Deb Bakke, a victim advocate with the Friendship Center, Monday. "The people who showed up (for those events) were aware of the problem."

"What we wanted to do was reach people who need assistance," said Kelly Parsley, outreach coordinator for the Friendship Center.

So, the women said, they dedicated what limited funding they had to raise awareness by developing a public service announcement campaign to run on television and in local newspapers.

According to Parsley, Capital High School students wrote, filmed and directed the advertisements airing on the WB network, that encourage young people to take note of sexual violence, and how to prevent it from affecting them, as either the victim or aggressor.

The announcements feature young, prominent athletes from Carroll College who convey the Friendship Center's message.

Friendship Center statistics indicate that facility staff members serve roughly 100 victims of sexual assault each year. Those numbers include children and adults, and cover services including sexual assault hotline contacts, support groups, and legal advocacy.

While that number is significant, Bakke said sexual assault remains an underreported crime in this community for a wide array of reasons. Those range from the perceived stigma associated with being the victim of a sex crime, to a victim's confusion about what constitutes a sexual assault.

According to Parsley, the Montana Legislature has made moves in recent years to, on some levels, make reporting sex crimes less traumatic for victims.

For example, young sexual assault victims no longer need to worry about being prosecuted for underage drinking should they report that they were assaulted while they were under the influence of alcohol.

In addition, the 2005 Montana Legislature created the forensic rape examination payment program to help rape victims pay for the medical exams necessary in those cases, as long as the exam occurs within 72 hours of the incident in question.

Parsley said the program ensures that the forensic evidence necessary to prosecute rape cases is available, even if victims aren't ready to report the crime to law enforcement when they first go to an emergency room.

When paired with the changes in the law, Parsley said she hopes the public service announcements will hit home with the audience that appears to be most affected by sexual assault -- women between the ages of 12 and 24 years.

"We hope they'll see the messages and recognize the people in them," she said, adding that the Friendship Center would love to see the end of sexual violence in the community, but on a more realistic level, to help victims feel safe enough to report sex crimes.