Concept

Prevention Strategies

HE A LTH EDUC A TION H E A L T H 1 0 0 V E R S I O N 3 / Sexual Violence

"The ultimate goal is to stop SV before it begins. Efforts at many levels are needed to accomplish this. Some examples include engaging high school students in mentoring programs or other skill-based activities that address healthy sexuality and dating relationships; helping parents identify and address violent attitudes and behaviors in their kids; creating policies at work, at school, and in other places that address sexual harassment; and developing mass media messages that promote norms, or shared beliefs, about healthy sexual relationships. Sexual violence prevention should ultimately decrease the number of individuals who perpetrate sexual violence and the number of individuals who are sexual violence victims. Many prevention approaches aim to reduce risk factors and promote protective factors for sexual violence. Comprehensive prevention strategies should address factors at each of the levels that influence sexual violence—the individual, relationship, community, and society. Strategies that aim to equip the victim with knowledge, awareness, or self-defense skills are referred to as risk reduction techniques. Strategies targeting the perpetrator attempt to change risk and protective factors for sexual violence in order to reduce the likelihood that an individual will engage in sexually violent behavior. The goal of bystander prevention strategies is to change social norms supporting sexual violence and empower men and women to intervene with peers to prevent an assault from occurring. Other prevention strategies may target social norms, policies, or laws in communities to reduce the perpetration of sexual violence across the population. Unfortunately, little is known about what works to prevent sexual violence. To date, only one prevention program, Safe Dates, has been shown in a randomized controlled trial to prevent or interrupt sexual violence perpetration. Other programs are accumulating evidence for effectiveness and are moving towards or are currently conducting rigorous evaluations. Until more is known about what works and for whom, program planners can use prevention principles to strengthen their approach and evaluation to determine the effectiveness of new or existing programs."

Related Ideas

  • IPV TypesHE A LTH EDUC A TION H E A L T H 1 0 0 V E R S I O N 3 · Intimate Partner Violence
  • Prevention TypesHE A LTH EDUC A TION H E A L T H 1 0 0 V E R S I O N 3 · Violence in Relationships
  • Primary PreventionHE A LTH EDUC A TION H E A L T H 1 0 0 V E R S I O N 3 · Risk Factors and Levels of Disease
  • Risk FactorsHE A LTH EDUC A TION H E A L T H 1 0 0 V E R S I O N 3 · Intimate Partner Violence
  • Primary PreventionHE A LTH EDUC A TION H E A L T H 1 0 0 V E R S I O N 3 · Levels of Disease Prev
  • SV ScopeHE A LTH EDUC A TION H E A L T H 1 0 0 V E R S I O N 3 · Sexual Violence
  • SV ImpactsHE A LTH EDUC A TION H E A L T H 1 0 0 V E R S I O N 3 · Sexual Violence
  • Risk ReductionHE A LTH EDUC A TION H E A L T H 1 0 0 V E R S I O N 3 · Risk Factors and Levels of Disease
Prevention Strategies | HE A LTH EDUC A TION H E A L T H 1 0 0 V E R S I O N 3 | Bifalgorithm | Bifalgorithm