Sexual Violence Prevention Program Analysis

In 2014, one in five college students experiences sexual assault during their college career. Sexual violence is a serious public health problem that can have lasting, harmful effects on victims and their family, friends, and communities. The goal of a sexual violence prevention program is simple; to stop it from happening in the first place. For a prevention program to be effective it needs to have the following characteristics: it must be relevant to your college campus, it should include diverse communities and identities, it needs to be informed by the latest research, and it must sustainable. When a program is relevant to its college campus, students and employees can relate to the material and really make a difference. By including
The program consists of a 10-session curriculum addressing attitudes, social norms, and healthy relationship skills, a 45-minute student play about dating violence, and a poster contest (DeGue 5). For a prevention program to work it’s important that it covers all aspects of sexual violence and involves multiple sessions. According to Beth Howard, “Traditional programs aimed at prevention are brief, one hour or less, and focused on improving knowledge about the problem. You can’t do a one-time program and expect it to make a difference” (USNEWS). Research proves that short, less detailed prevention programs are not as successful at reducing sexual violence behaviors than extensive and detailed prevention
As an association of research universities, AAU (Association of American Universities) decided that the best way to help its members address this issue was to develop and implement a scientific survey to better understand the attitudes and experiences of their students with respect to sexual assault and sexual misconduct (AAU). Some of the results of the survey are as follows: about a quarter of the students generally believe they are knowledgeable about the resources available related to sexual assault and misconduct, rates of sexual assault and misconduct are highest among undergraduate females and those identifying as transgender, genderqueer, non-conforming, questioning, and as something not listed on the survey, and a significant percentage of students say they did not report because they were embarrassed, ashamed or that it would be too emotionally difficult (AAU). With this information UWW can inform their policies to prevent and respond to sexual assault.
Another problem that UWW’s sexual violence prevention program needs to address is that most sexual assaults aren’t being reported. According to Nancy Gibbs, “while 1 in 4 women will be raped in her lifetime, less than 10% will report the assault, and less than 5% of the rapists will go to jail” (Gibbs 48). UWW needs to implement a course to Safe Dates that focuses on the importance of reporting