Primary Prevention of Sexual Violence - American College Health ...

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Purpose of the ToolkitThe purpose of this toolkit — Shifting the Paradigm: PrimaryPrevention of Sexual Violence — is to provide facts, ideas,strategies, conversation starters, and resources to everyone oncampus who cares about the prevention of sexual violence.Whether you are a faculty or staff member or an administratoror student, there are resources included that are directly relevantto your role in the campus community. Please take a moment tolook through these materials and decide how you can bestutilize this toolkit as an individual, in your center/office, department,or at the overall institution level. If you are tempted tosimply pass this toolkit off to the person or office that deals withsexual assault, consider this — the only way to prevent sexualviolence and promote a culture of caring is for the entirecampus community to focus on this campus concern.All American College Health Association (ACHA) membershave been sent this toolkit and we are asking that you disseminatethis resource across your campus. You may either copyall of it or portions of it or download it at www.acha.org/SexualViolence. Likewise, you may choose to electronically sendthe toolkit to key stakeholders at your institution. As you reviewthe toolkit, we ask that you consider:✤ Organizing a meeting of key leaders to discuss how todisseminate (See “Key Partnerships in Sexual ViolencePrevention” and “Spread the Word”) and utilize the toolkitfor your campus community. Be sure to include representativesfrom the president/chancellor's office, faculty, healthcenter, counseling center, health promotion, women’scenter/studies, Panhellenic/Interfraternity Councils, athletics,dean of students, student affairs, peer educators, andother interested parties.✤ Encouraging your student health/counseling/health promotionstaff to review this toolkit and discuss how to incorporatethe “Screening for Sexual Violence” tools into your interactionswith students and “Opportunities for PreventionMessages during Campus Health Visits.”✤ Distributing the ACHA Guidelines: Position Statementon Preventing Sexual Violence on College and UniversityCampuses to all college health professionals andother key people. Likewise, use the “Position StatementAssessment Tool” to guide your campus efforts atpreventing sexual violence.✤ Distributing the handout “10 Ways Young Men Can PreventSexual Violence” to male students and discussing these pointswith them.✤ Initiating or facilitating roundtable discussions, events,trainings, and/or workshops on:• How your campus can embrace the shifting paradigmconcept of primary prevention of sexual violence (See“Sexual Violence Prevention”)• How your campus can address the connection betweenoppression and violence (See “Re-visioning the SexualViolence Continuum”)• How to analyze your campus culture and the social normsregarding alcohol, sexual behavior, and sexual violence(See “Alcohol and Sexual Violence”)• How your campus can address the specific needs ofinternational students, LGBT students, and cultural diversitygroups regarding this topic• How to develop bystander intervention strategies (See“Preventing Sexual Violence through Empowering CampusBystanders”)• How to promote a culture of caring and sexual ethics onyour campus• How to gain consent for all sexual activities andencounters (See “Importance of Consent”)• How to address gender roles, gender inequality, and malepeer support for sexual aggression• How protective factors in your particular campus culturecan be strengthened✤ Encouraging student organizations, fraternities, sororities,campus activities, student government, and others to bringin national speakers on sexual violence prevention.✤ Discussing the best strategy for enlisting buy-in and endorsementfrom the president or chancellor of your institution.✤ Utilizing this toolkit in programming for Sexual AssaultAwareness Month (SAAM) each April.✤ Adapting any of the materials or tools to fit your uniquecampus needs and change them to fit your campus cultureLastly, talk about this issue! The health and academic successof our students will only be enhanced once there is a commitmentto address sexual violence on campus. Good luck to you all.4
ACHA GUIDELINESAPRIL 2007Position Statement on Preventing SexualViolence on College and University CampusesThe American College Health Association (ACHA) recognizessexual violence as a serious campus and public health issue.The ACHA Campus Violence White Paper documents currentresearch that reveals high rates of sexual violence on collegeand university campuses and low levels of reporting of theseincidents by students. Healthy People 2010 identifies “injury”and “violence” as a leading public health indicator. In recognitionof this campus health concern, ACHA’s Healthy Campus2010 developed health objectives that serve as a basis fordeveloping plans and programs to reduce sexual violence andimprove student health.High levels of victimization, coupled with cultural acceptanceof rape myths, create an environment where victimizedstudents are disempowered and alienated from their collegeexperiences. This environment has resulted in impediments toacademic success, lower graduation rates, health problems,and persistent mental health issues. Students cannot learn inan atmosphere where they do not feel safe. ACHA membersare uniquely positioned to play a leading role in sexual violenceprevention and to create a culture of caring. Collegecampuses contain rich venues for educating students abouthealthy sexuality and communication skills.Reframing the IssueAll levels of prevention are necessary to stop the occurrenceof sexual violence and to significantly improve the health statusof campus communities. True primary prevention is populationbasedusing environmental and system-level strategies, policies,and actions that prevent sexual violence from initially occurring.The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggeststhat sexual violence is conceptualized by risk and protectivefactors on individual, relationship, community, and society levels.Sexual violence prevention activities include those that areaimed at addressing the domains of influence of potential victims,perpetrators, and bystanders. College health professionalscan facilitate conversations about sex that focus on individualchoices along the continuum of sexual activity. These conversationsidentify and popularize healthy sexuality that respectsgender, sexual orientation, and gender identity.The creation of a living and learning environment free ofsexual violence is the ultimate goal. This vision requires a culturalshift that moves beyond the mere prevention of violencetowards a community that adopts healthy and caring sexualattitudes and practices. Faculty, staff, administrators, andstudents must play key roles in the creation of a campus culturethat reflects civility, honor, respect, and nonviolence. Thiscampus/community culture shift conceptualizes sexual activityas a choice and as consensual. Consensual sexual activityinvolves the presence of the word “yes” without incapacitationof alcohol or other drugs, pressure, force, threat, or intimidation.As this conversation moves from the shadows into thepublic arena, individuals can learn skills necessary for consentand intimate communication.Engaging The Campus CommunitySuccessful primary prevention of sexual violence requiresrecognition of the problem at the highest levels of campus leadership.Likewise, policy development and accountability for allpolicies that reflect intolerance for sexual violence across itscontinuum — from sexist statements to sexual harassment tosexual assault — should be enforced. Further, it is the responsibilityof faculty, staff, and administrators to serve as mentorsand role models for students as well as to provide educativeopportunities for the primary prevention of sexual violence.Efforts to prevent sexual violence should be multifacetedand include but not be limited to such strategies as classroomdiscussions, health promotion programs, media campaigns,peer education, and discussions during student health andcounseling services visits. It is also critical to infuse messagesabout healthy sexuality and sexual violence prevention into thecurriculum at all levels. Faculty in women’s studies, biology,health sciences, religious studies, sociology, psychology, criminaljustice, ethics, and other areas can be mobilized to shareresearch and establish critical thinking skills to assist studentsin making healthy decisions that will decrease sexual violence.A critical component of successful primary prevention ofsexual violence is its recognition as a public health issue thatinvolves both men and women. Encouraging the commitment ofmen to serve as positive role models for other men to be intolerantof sexual violence is as fundamental to prevention of sexualviolence as are programs that provide continuous opportunitiesthat empower women to develop self-respect, self-esteem, and5
Page 1 and 2: An ACHA ToolkitPrimary Prevention o
Page 3: Preface and AcknowledgementsPreface
Page 7 and 8: Sexual Violence PreventionBy David
Page 9 and 10: Sexual Violence PreventionSocial Ma
Page 11 and 12: holistic depiction. My hope is that
Page 13 and 14: Spread the Word aboutPreventing Sex
Page 15 and 16: Before you have sex, ask yourself..
Page 17 and 18: SURVEY RESULTS . . .How familiar ar
Page 19 and 20: Alcohol andSexual ViolenceSURVEY RE
Page 21 and 22: Prevention of Sexual Violence on Ca
Page 23 and 24: ResourcesOrganizationsThe following

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