by Heather Henry, Roxanna Maiberger, and Hailey Pulman. (Supervisor/editor: Paul von Hippel.)

Definition and History

Sexual Assault Prevention Policies refer to programs and policies that attempt to prevent sexual assault from occurring. Prevention policies are fairly new, mainly because cultural norms surrounding the acceptance of discussing the issue have changed over the past 50 years. These cultural changes are mainly due to the radical feminist movement of the 1960's and 1970's (Goodwin, n.d.). It wasn't until the 1980's that academics started studying the prevalence of sexual violence in the United States, and research on prevention programs has only become common within the last two decades (Campbell and Wasco, 2005).

Types of Prevention Programs

This article describes and evaluates the evidence for various prevention programs practiced by education systems, including primary prevention, bystander education, consent education and environmental prevention.

Primary Prevention

Primary prevention programs aim to shift the culture to rejects sexual assault and embrace healthy and respectful attitudes toward sexual activity (American College Health Association, 2008). Different primary prevention programs are used across the country, and different types of primary prevention may be required to obtain different outcomes. For example, a research review found that interventions targeting single gender audiences are “effective at improving rape attitudes, behavioral intent, rape awareness, rape knowledge, rape empathy, and rape myth acceptance” (Vladutiu et. al., 2011). Longer term, lecture based programs as well as videos are less effective for attitude changing and more effective for risk reduction and rape prevention (Vladutiu et. al., 2011). The federal Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), effective July 1, 2015, requires institutions of higher education to provide primary prevention and awareness programs to incoming students and new employees, as well as describe these programs in their annual security reports (Violence Against Women Act, 2014).

Consent Education

Understanding consent is pivotal in preventing sexual assault both from a potential victim and a potential abuser standpoint. In many cases prevention efforts rely on consent educational programs as a tool to reduce violence. Consent is defined as an agreement to engage in sexual activity between participants. Consent can be verbal or nonverbal, but verbal agreements are the clearest way to ensure that consent has been obtained (RAINN, 2016). In the state of Texas in order to legally consent to sexual activity a participant must be conscious and not incapacitated by alcohol or other drugs (RAINN, 2016). 

Efforts are being made across the country to institute educational programs on consent in classrooms in middle schools, high schools, and colleges. One research study found that participants in an all-male sexual assault prevention program focused on consent and victim empathy showed a significantly reduced likelihood of becoming an abuser (Foubert, 2010).

Risk Education for Men

Some campuses gear prevention and intervention programs to all male groups as a way to stress male culpability for committing the vast majority of sexually violent crimes, reinforce men's responsibility to prevent these crimes, and address attitudes and behaviors that may foster sexual violence. Such attitudes and behaviors include associating with sexually aggressive peers; community tolerance of sexual assault, sexism, misogyny, homophobia, acceptance of rigid gender roles, and feelings of entitlement. The education and discussion of these factors are necessary to understanding some possible reasons abusers engage in sexual violence (Voices Against Violence, 2016).

Risk Reduction

Risk reduction recognizes that cultural issues can affect sexual assault, but focuses on actions that individuals can take to prevent assault. Risk reduction programs aim to educate potential victims and bystanders in ways that prepare them to protect themselves and/or intervene if a situation involving sexual assault arises (Primary Prevention vs. Risk Reduction, 2016).

Potential Victims

Some risk reduction programs, recognizing that sexual assault is a realistic possibility for many students, educate potential victims to protect themselves and avoid high-risk situations. These programs emphasize "in-the-moment" techniques that can be used in the event of sexual assault. Some of these programs include training in self-defense technique, awareness of surroundings, recognition of danger, and monitoring of alcohol or drug consumption (Primary Prevention vs. Risk Reduction, 2016).

An example of risk reduction for potential victims is the Enhanced Assess, Acknowledge, Act (EAAA) sexual assault resistance education program – "a 12 hour small-group, empirically based intervention designed specifically for 1st year university women" (SARE Center, n.d.). EAAA educates women to assess risk, navigate "emotional barriers" such as shame and accommodation, and engage in effective self-defense (Senn et. al., 2015). A randomized control trial at Canadian universities found that one year after EAAA, the risk of completed rape was 5 percent for participating women, vs. almost 10 percent for women who did not participate in the program (Senn et. al., 2015).

Bystander Education 

An increasingly popular form of risk reduction is bystander education programs, which aim to change perceptions of rape and sexual assault by empowering bystanders with the responsibility to prevent an assault from occurring. These programs are taught in a way that promotes the safety of all individuals while still allowing intervention in high-risk situations (Katz and Moore, 2013). Bystander education programs are implemented in various ways, including in-person and online classes required for students upon entering universities (CampusAnswers, 2015). 

Bystander education programs have shown strong effect sizes for the following measured outcomes: bystander efficacy, rape supportive attitudes, intent to help, and bystander helping behaviors (Katz and Moore, 2013). These outcomes  are measures that show a decrease in negative attitudes toward rape and increased awareness and intervention in high-risk situations by third party witnesses to sexual assault. Bystander education broadents the responsibility for preventing sexual assault from the individual to the community (Katz and Moore, 2013). 

Environmental Prevention

Environmental prevention programs aim to directly and indirectly reshape campus environment to ensure a reduction in sexual assault. Modern environmental prevention includes policies around alcohol, drugs, and campus security and safety. Older policies include dormitory curfew and check-in policies.

Alcohol & Drug Policies

Most campus sexual assaults are preceded by drug and/or alcohol consumption, and rates of assault increase with consumption levels (Benson et. al., 2007). It is important to recognize that victims who consume alcohol prior to a sexual assault are not at fault for their victimization (Krebs et. al., 2010), and that perpetrators often also consume drugs and alcohol which may reduce their inhibitions. That said, the association between assault and intoxication gives universities an opportunity to reduce assault by regulating access to drugs and alcohol.

Any institution of higher education that receives federal funding is required to comply with the the Drug Free Schools and Campus Regulations under the Education Department’s General Administrative Regulations. These regulations require that institutions “must develop and implement a program to prevent the unlawful possession, use, or distribution of illicit drugs or alcohol by students and employees” (US Department of Education Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse and Violence Prevention, 2006). These policies aim to reduce the amount of alcohol or drugs being consumed by undergraduates in recognition of the serious effects that abuse of alcohol and drugs can have on the academic performance of a student, as well as on their overall well-being (US Department of Education Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse and Violence Prevention, 2006). The policies may also reduce the incidence of sexual assault and other antisocial behaviors, although the evidence on this point is lacking.

It is important that campus alcohol and drug policies do not discourage victims to report assault that occurred when they were intoxicated. Many universities incorporate amnesty measures into their policies on sexual assault. For example, the University of Texas at Austin’s policy states that “any student who files a complaint, or who acts as a third-party witness in an investigation under this policy, will not be subject to disciplinary action by the Office of the Dean of Students for using and/or consuming alcohol or drugs at or near the time of the alleged incident, provided that any such alcohol or drug use did not, and do not, place the health or safety of any other person at risk” (UT Austin Policies and Procedures, 2016).

Campus Safety Infrastructure

Campuses across the country have implemented multiple methods of ensuring the safety of their students. An example is the Safe Walk program that provides escorts across campus in the form of student volunteers as well as campus police. Campuses also recognize the importance of having sufficient lighting for students walking on campus after dark. Campus police patrols and resources such as emergency call buttons are also common safety measures. All of these methods aim to reduce the risk of becoming a victim of violence by increasing safety precautions.

Older Campus Policies

Curfew 

Dormitory curfews were popular, especially in female residence halls, in the early 20th century but were largely repealed in the 60's and early 70's. While a small number of universities tried to reinstate curfews in the 80's, they are largely unpopular and rarely implemented today . This shift is reflective of the transition from paternalistic campus policies to fostering a space for students to become independent, responsible young adults (Sartorius 2010). Without putting limitations on what students can do and recognizing the important role residence halls can play in preventing sexual assault, many schools offer primary prevention programming in residence halls and fraternity and sorority houses and plan free alcohol-free programs to promote residents socializing in alcohol and drug free spaces.

A major criticism of dormitory curfews is that they historically focused on female students and perpetuated school-sanctioned victim blaming. Instead of teaching students to act lawfully, women were taught it was not safe to be out late at night. "By restricting women from certain locations under the guise of ‘safety,' this policy lends itself to the notion that women cannot make choices for themselves about their own safety" (Shipps 2015).

Dorm Check-In/Check-Out Policies

Another older policy was a requirement that dormitory residents inform a supervisor when they leave and return to their residence hall. Potential reasons why such policies are not widely used are the burden they put on each residence hall to track their residents, the assumption that students sleep in their residence halls every night, the low likelihood of students to consistently self-report their coming and going from a dorm and an increasing number of students do not live on campus during their college careers. Importantly, such policies do not address sexual assaults where both the victim and perpetrator live in the same dorm, or where either of them lives off campus. More modern approaches to dorm safety include providing residence hall staff with safety training, have security staff on duty and requiring overnight guests to register (Gonzales et. al., 2006). 

Challenges in Evaluation

Many sexual assault prevention programs lack rigorous evidence of effectiveness. While there is a growing number of both quantitative and quantitative evaluations, some unique challenges make the evaluation of sexual assault prevention policies difficult. The lack of rigorous evidence does not necessarily mean that prevention programs are ineffective, but rather that their impact is difficult to establish. 

Since attitudes toward sexual assault are deeply entrenched in society, it can be very difficult for a single program to achieve large effect sizes. While some see this as a discouraging sign, others argue that current programs are just part of a broad attitudinal shift in cultural beliefs and norms related to sexual assault. As prevention programs begin to educate all people, rather than only women, proponents argue that the cumulative effects of attitude shifts on rape and sexual assault will become more apparent.

Measuring Attitudes

It is not known to what degree primary prevention programs prevent assault. The immediate goal of primary prevention is to change attitudes. Attitudes are commonly measured through instruments like the Rape Myth Acceptance Scale, which are used to measure participants' attitudes before and after prevention programs. A disadvantage of this approach is that respondents may give the answers that they think are expected, rather than reporting their true beliefs. Because of this social desirability bias, it can be hard to tell whether a program has truly changed respondents' attitudes or merely taught them to hide their attitudes from program evaluators. Regardless of the measurement used, many prevention policies are believed to have small effects due to entrenched society beliefs surrounding rape and sexual assault, which cannot be unlearned overnight (Gadalla and Suarez, 2010).

Long-term Follow Up 

While it is commonly believed that earlier intervention is more effective, it is hard to know whether early interventions are effective because of the long followup required. For example, it is not known to what degree consent education in middle school prevents sexual assault in college. Long-term studies of this nature have not been conducted, and it would be difficult to follow up with middle schoolers who have dispersed to different college campuses–not to mention the half of middle schoolers who never attend college.

Separating Incidence from Reporting

Because most sexual assaults are not reported, reported rates of sexual assault are not necessarily a good measure of the true rate. Many prevention programs aim to increase awareness and reporting, so it reports of sexual assault increase it can be unclear whether the true rate has gone up or whether reporting has grown more complete. For this reason, it can be difficult to know whether a prevention program is reducing rates of assault.

Establishing a Control Group

Finally, most evidence-based program evaluations require a control group. Both ethically and practically, it is hard to create a control group through random assignment. For example, Victoria Baynard (2007) designed a study in which nearly 400 undergraduate students were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups or a control group. Another example is Charlene Senn's (2016) trial of EAAA, which randomly assigned 451 women to intervention and 441 to a control group. Both studies found evidence that the interventions were effective.

Another natural way to test a university prevention program is comparing attitudes towards and the prevalence of sexual assault among the first class students exposed to the program and the class immediately before them, who were not exposed. A limitation of the approach is that other policies and reporting practices may change when the program is introduced, making it difficult to evaluate the program's effect.

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