Vermont's rape prevention and education program: using the best available evidence for sexual violence prevention - sexual violence is a complex public health program, impacting individuals,…

Vermont's rape prevention and education program: using the best available evidence for sexual violence prevention - sexual violence is a complex public health program, impacting individuals, relationships, and communities across the county. According to the national intimate partner and sexual violence survey (nisvs), over half of all american women (54.3%) and nearly one third (30.7%) of men have experienced contact sexual violence. Experiencing sexual violence results in immediate and long-term health impacts including sexually transmitted infections, injury, unintentional pregnancy, chronic health conditions and chronic injuries, mental health conditions, suicidality, and substance misuse. According to the 2021 vermont youth risk behavior survey (yrbs) sexual violence and intimate partner (or dating) violence data highlight the following: 21% students ever had someone do sexual things to them that they did not want. Of these, female students, bipoc and lgbtq students are all significantly more likely to ever had someone do sexual things to them that they did not want. Among all students who dated during the past year, 3 in 10 experienced emotional abuse and less than 1 in 15 experienced physical violence. Of these, female students, bipoc and lgbt students are all significantly more likely than others to experience both physical and sexual violence. According to 2021 vermont behavioral risk factor surveillance system (brfss) data, 16% of adults reported someone has ever been made to take part in any non-consensual sexual activity. Women, lgbtq, and adults living with a disability are significantly more likely to report having ever been made to take part in any non-consensual sexual activity (women 24% VS. 8%, lgbtq 37% VS. 13%, disability 23% VS. 13%). Lgbtq+ adults are significantly more likely than non-lgbtq+ adults have been exposed to unwanted non-physical sexual situations in the past month (7% VS. 1%). Sexual violence is known to be underreported by those who experience IT. There are many reasons why victims of sexual violence may not report these crimes or seek medical attention. Because of this, we can assume that national and vermont rates may be higher than the data outlined above. Although sexual violence is common, IT is also preventable. Strategies that address risk factors of perpetration and victimization are crucial to stopping sexual violence before IT happens. A combination of individual, relationship, community, and societal factors contribute to the risk of becoming a victim or perpetrator of sexual violence. The vermont RPE program will build on years of addressing individual and relationship level risk and protective factors and shift the prevention work to address community and society level prevention strategies. The purpose of the proposed project is to prevent sexual violence (SV) perpetration and victimization by using the approach outlined in the RPE nofo that is grounded in the following key elements: use of a public health approach to decrease SV risk factors and increase SV protective factors; select, implement and evaluate prevention strategies based on the best available evidence across the community and societal levels of the social ecological model (SEM), and build partnerships and make linkages that support the use of strategies to address shared risk and protective factors across multiple forms of violence. The vermont RPE program outcomes will align with all required short and intermediate outcomes identified in the nofo for the 5-year project period. While states are not required to demonstrate progress on long-term outcomes during the funding period, the vermont RPE program will use indicator dashboard created in the current funding cycle to continue measuring the long-term outcomes of decreasing rates of SV perpetration and victimization.