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Prevention
Prevention Approaches
The prevention of sexual violence requires a comprehensive, community-wide approach. When we speak of prevention, we are not talking just about stopping someone from doing something in the moment, but about changing that person’s perspective and thought process so that violent behaviors are not even seen as an option.
What would it take to raise a generation of boys and girls who grow up without violence as their model for how behave? Those boys and girls need to receive positive, violence-free messages from their peers, the adults in their lives, and the pop culture that surrounds them. In the movement, we sometimes refer to this as the Socio-Ecological Model:
Individual behavioral choices are affected by one’s own individual identity and belief systems as they relate to messages, beliefs, boundaries, and expectations expressed by significant others and other family members, parents, peer groups, school or other social community, and the culture at large. [For more information, see the CDC publication “Sexual Violence Prevention: Beginning the Dialogue”]
From an institutional perspective, another way of thinking about this is to use the “spectrum of prevention” model:
Spectrum of Prevention
| 6. Influencing Policy and Legislation | Developing strategies to change laws and policies to influence outcomes |
| 5. Changing Organizational Practices | Adopting regulations and shaping norms to improve health and safety |
| 4. Fostering Coalitions and Networks | Convening groups and individuals for broader goals and greater impact |
| 3. Educating Providers | Informing providers who will transmit skills and knowledge to others |
| 2. Promoting Community Education | Reaching groups of people with information and resources to promote health and safety |
| 1. Strengthening Individual Knowledge and Skills | Enhancing an individual's capability of preventing injury or illness and promoting safety |
[The Prevention Institute has a One Page Description of The Spectrum of Prevention 
handout of the information above]
You can read more and download resources at the Prevention Institute Spectrum of Prevention page.
Prevention Programming
The prevention of violence can take many forms; as the field has grown, practitioners have begun to identify best practices in terms of those things that make programming most effective. The CDC has identified “9 Principles of Primary Prevention”, concepts borrowed from other prevention efforts (substance abuse, risky sexual behavior, school failure, juvenile delinquency & violence) which have proven successful in shifting people’s behavior over time. To be successful, when planning prevention programming your organization should consider the following:
The “9 Principles of Effective Prevention Programming”
- Comprehensive
- Varied Methods
- Sufficient Dosage
- Theory Driven
- Positive Relationships
- Appropriately Timed
- Socio-Culturally Relevant
- Outcome Evaluation
- Well-Trained Staff
- To learn more about each of these principles, read the paper Applying the Principles of Prevention: What Do Prevention Practitioners Need to Know About What Works? [PDF]
- You can also view the CDC’s Veto Violence project - Principles of Prevention online course (flash based content).
Community Readiness – to be successful, a community must have the right resources in place; the community must be ready. To maximize chances for success, the Community Readiness Model [link to Tri-Ethnic Center at Colorado State University] offers tools to measure readiness and to develop stage-appropriate strategies.
Some available prevention strategies:
Prevention of Childhood Sexual Assault (CSA)
- Darkness to Light – empowering people to prevent child sexual abuse
“Bystander Intervention”
- Green Dot Program – originally created at University of Kentucky, Green Dot has quickly grown to be a nationally recognized bystander intervention program
- StepUP Program – University of Arizona based program focused on college campuses with an emphasis on college athletes
- Engaging Bystanders in Sexual Violence Prevention – booklet made available by the NSVRC (National Sexual Violence Resource Center); also available en Español.
Healthy Sexuality
- Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance’s “Healthy sexuality for sexual violence prevention: A report on promising curriculum-based approaches” – a comprehensive review of four promising curricula related to healthy sexuality including the prevention of sexual assault.
- It’s All One – published by the Population Council, It’s All One is a curriculum aimed mainly at confronting HIV/Aids but it takes a well-rounded approach - viewing HIV prevention as a human rights education issue. The curriculum is in two “books” which can be downloaded as - free!
