Sexual Violence Prevention

According to the Prevention Institute violence is preventable not inevitable. Sexual violence can be examined from many perspectives (public health, criminal justice, social justice etc) with each providing its own insight into this issue and approaches to solve it. The public health approach to sexual violence-

• Concerned with approaches that address the population rather than one individual.
• Depends on collective action - involves the entire community and thereby the entire community becomes accountable
• Emphasizes primary prevention - intervening before the problem (sexual violence) occurs
• Utilizes an Ecological Model that addresses the complex interplay of factors that influence violence at multiple levels (Individual, Relationship, Community and Societal)

What do we mean by Primary Prevention of Sexual Violence ?

The Center's for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC 2004) classifies  sexual violence prevention and intervention  activities according  to when they occur  in relation to the violence:

• Primary Prevention:activities that take place before  sexual violence has occured

• Secondary Prevention: activities  that take place in immediate response after  sexual violence has occured  to deal with short-term  consequences of violence

• Tertiary Prevention: activities that  take place  after sexual violence has occured to deal with the long term lasting consequences of  violence

To learn more about Primary Prevention of Sexual Violence click here.

To learn more about the nine principles of Primary Prevention click here.

CDC resource : Sexual Violence Prevention: Begining the Dialogue