Developing Sexual Violence Prevention Strategies by Bridging Spheres of Public Health

Abstract

Sexual violence (SV) is a significant public health problem with multiple negative physical and emotional sequelae for both victims and perpetrators. Despite substantial research and program activity over the past 20 years, there are few programs with demonstrated effectiveness in preventing SV. As a result, the field may benefit from considering effective approaches used with other risk behaviors that share risk factors with SV. The Division of Violence Prevention (DVP) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has taken several steps to identify and understand the breadth of risk factors for sexual violence and to delineate the implications of these factors in the development of effective prevention strategies. This report from CDC will highlight several risk factors that, although not traditionally included in SV prevention efforts, may be important areas on which to focus and may ultimately prevent youth from embarking on trajectories resulting in SV perpetration.

AMP!: A Cross-site Analysis of the Effects of a Theater-based Intervention on Adolescent Awareness, Attitudes, and Knowledge about HIV

“…Prior research implicates that adolescent health risk brhaviors occur in clusters, rather than in isolation, and are influenced by a similar set of determinants (Jessor & Jessor, 1977; Guilamo-Ramos, Litardo, & Jaccard, 2005; Mustanski et al, 2013). Delivering interventions that use a cross-cutting approach may be an effective and efficient strategy to address multiple adolescent risk factors in resource-challenged settings such as schools (Vivolo, Holland, Teten, & Holt, 2010). AMP!…”

Looking Ahead Toward Community-Level Strategies to Prevent Sexual Violence

“…Unfortunately, the SV literature provides minimal guidance about promising factors at these levels; thus, it may be helpful to examine community-level and societal-level risk factors that have been established in other research areas that share commonalities with SV, such as youth violence or sexual health. 23 A second, and related, challenge involves the lack of theoretical or empirical guidance in the SV literature for identification of promising programs, strategies, or policies that may impact SV behavior at the community level. Again, looking at successful approaches in other areas of health behavior may provide some direction.…”

Lessons as a prevention intern: Eliminating sexual violence through school-based programs

“…Sexual violence is defined as any sexual act that is committed against someone who does not consent or is unable to consent or refuse and can include penetration, unwanted touching, and noncontact sexual abuse (Vivolo, Holland, Teten, & Holt, 2010). According to recent estimates, 1 in 6 men and 1 in 3 women will experience sexual violence at some point in their life (Truman & Langton, 2015).…”

“…College-aged individuals are at an increased risk of experiencing sexual violence, with college women three times as likely and college men 78% more likely to experience sexual assault than other women and men (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, 2015). As a public health issue, reducing sexual violence is focused on preventing associated risk factors and promoting protective factors (Santelli et al, 2018;Vivolo et al, 2010). One way this is accomplished is by focusing on education within school-based settings.…”