Socio-Ecological Model

Sexual violence, as defined by Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) “is a sexual act committed against someone without that person’s freely given consent” (cdc.gov, 2015). Sexual violence is one of the worst form of violence, in its cruelty, short and long-term consequences. Sexual violence by itself, as a fact, violates some of the most important rights of any person. Moreover, sexual violence remains a huge problem among college age population. According to nationally representative survey of adults, “37.4% of female rape victims were first raped between ages 18-24 (Black et al., 2011 as cited in CDC, 2012).
To address the sexual violence and reduce the rates among a college-age population, a social-ecological model might be used to create potential preventive strategies. The socio-ecological model includes five levels: individual, peer/partner (interpersonal),
Organization/community – provide the information about the existing policies and consequences regarding sexual violence. This would greatly impact the climate at the campus.
Society level – provide the educational sessions and develop the policies that will address the inequalities based on gender, race, and sexual orientation. At many colleges, the male population is much greater than females (such as engineering, computer science), and the opposite (such dental hygiene or nursing schools), where the race-majority might act as superior and create tension in relationships.
Effective interventions: 1) “Safe Dates” (developed and implemented for middle- and high-school students) – addresses attitudes, social norms, and skills of healthy relations. Proved to be effective short- and long-term. 2) “Shifting Boundaries” – addresses safety issues at schools by implementing building-level