Preventing sexual violence: Strategies focused on individuals

Individuals: Factors and prevention strategies

Examples of factors related to individuals

Factors associated with an increased risk of sexual violence

  • Adherence to myths and beliefs that support sexual violence
  • Adherence to traditional gender role norms
  • Hostility toward women
  • Risky sexual behaviours
  • Risky online behaviours
  • Alcohol use, including dependence and excessive consumption

Protective factors

  • Good digital literacy
  • Empathy toward others
  • Good communication skills
  • Good understanding of sexual consent

Examples of prevention strategies

Development of personal and social skills in children and youth

Programs that focus on developing the personal and social skills of children and youth can help reduce violence by contributing to their overall well-being and the development of healthy, respectful, and equal relationships1. Such strategies sometimes also target university students.

Strategies are often implemented at the population level, including in elementary and secondary schools, CEGEPs, and universities. Programs that adopt this approach are among the most documented and evaluated. They generally enable early intervention on factors associated with sexual violence.

Sex education

Sex education is one of the key prevention strategies for avoiding sexual violence and promoting sexual health. It involves sharing accurate, non-judgmental information about sexuality and relationships and combating sexual and sexist stereotypes. Sex education activities or programs are generally included in the school curriculum for children and adolescents and are therefore often adapted to the age or cultural context in which they are taught1. Various topics are covered, such as communication, respect, equal relationships, and sexual consent.

These programs help reduce factors associated with the risk of sexual violence, such as risky sexual behaviours and misconceptions about sexual consent1–4. They can also reinforce protective factors, for example by teaching children and young people that their bodies are their own and helping them to better understand what constitutes appropriate and inappropriate touching and situations that pose a risk of violence. These programs can promote the adoption of protective skills, such as knowing what to do in these situations and who to turn to. Sex education programs also have positive effects on self-esteem and feelings of safety5.

Sexual violence prevention programs for children and youth

When it comes to primary prevention of sexual violence, most programs are offered in elementary and secondary schools and target children and youth. Some are also aimed at school staff, parents, or other significant adults. Although they are implemented in schools, most of these programs are based on individual prevention strategies, as they focus on individual risk and protective factors. Their main goal is to promote the development of children’s and young people’s personal and social knowledge and skills, change their attitudes, and bring about a change in their behaviour6–9.

For elementary school children, programs address various topics, such as sexuality, healthy, equal, and respectful relationships, problem solving, and self-esteem. Some programs focus more specifically on improving recognition of sexual violence and teaching strategies for protecting oneself in risky situations and for reporting such violence10. For secondary school students, programs target various factors associated with sexual violence, including sexual consent and social norms that trivialize violence. Beliefs that support violence and hostility toward women and adherence to myths about sexual violence are factors that increase the risk of sexual violence among young people3,11–14. Other topics covered include dating violence, healthy relationships, communication, bystander intervention, and strategies for seeking help8,9,15.

Several sexual violence prevention programs offered to elementary and secondary school students improve their knowledge, help them recognize situations of sexual violence or situations that could lead to sexual violence, and reinforce their behaviour as witnesses6,7,15–18. They also improve their attitudes and, in some cases, their skills, particularly in terms of personal safety (e.g., knowing how to refuse or disclose certain actions)15–18. The effects of these programs on acts of sexual violence committed and experienced are more mixed, with some studies reporting effects and others not8,9,15. Several findings show a decrease in sexual, physical, or psychological violence experienced or committed in young people’s romantic relationships15.

Some programs also aim to specifically prevent online sexual violence, including sexual harassment, solicitation, manipulation, exploitation, and non-consensual sharing of intimate images. Although these forms of violence may originate online, they can also continue offline, and vice versa19. These programs generally improve knowledge about online safety and online sexual violence, with digital media literacy being a factor that protects against sexual violence15. They also aim to prevent risky online behaviours, such as blindly trusting everything found on the Internet or meeting someone in person who was contacted online, which are associated with a higher risk of being a victim of online sexual violence19,20. However, although these programs generally improve knowledge of these risks, they do not actually reduce the adoption of risky behaviours19.

Sexual violence prevention programs for students in higher education institutions

Several sexual violence prevention programs have also been implemented among students in higher education institutions. Sexual violence is a particularly prevalent issue among this population, making it a key group for intervention21,22.

These programs mainly aim to reduce the risk of experiencing and committing sexual violence and to lessen the consequences associated with such violence23. In general, they have a greater impact on knowledge and attitudes than on violent behaviour16,23,24. These programs address certain factors associated with the risk of sexual violence, including reducing belief in myths about sexual violence. They also reinforce certain protective factors such as empathy, knowledge about sexual consent, and communication during sexual relations3,4,23. The programs also promote learning strategies for intervening when witnessing a situation of sexual violence or one that could lead to sexual violence, as well as strategies for physical and verbal resistance when students themselves are at risk of being subjected to such violence23. In terms of behaviour, some programs reduce sexual violence experienced, but few have an effect on sexual violence perpetrated or have not evaluated these effects24,25.

Targeted prevention for individuals at risk of committing sexual violence

To prevent sexual violence before it occurs, it is necessary to target the entire population. However, some strategies also focus on more specific population groups or those who are more likely to commit such violence in certain contexts.

Some programs are designed for specific groups of men, such as students who are members of a sports team or a fraternity25–27. These contexts are relevant targets for intervention, as gender and sexist stereotypes, traditional masculine norms, and a climate that values hostility toward women tend to be more prevalent in these settings, all of which are factors associated with an increased risk of committing sexual violence13,28,29.

Prevention programs aimed at young men in university settings generally improve their knowledge of sexual violence and change their attitudes. They also address risk and protective factors associated with sexual violence. In addition, these programs reduce adherence to myths and beliefs that support sexual violence, improve empathy toward victims, and reduce hostility toward women26–32. However, the effects on their behaviour are less conclusive. Some studies show a decrease in sexual violence in the short and long term, while others report no effect25,27,32.

Other programs offered only online, also aimed specifically at young people or men, target factors associated with the risk of committing sexual violence. Such programs are successful in reducing risky and compulsive sexual behaviours among participants. In addition, they reduce their intention to engage in non-consensual sex and their acts of sexual violence33.

Targeted prevention for individuals at risk of experiencing sexual violence

Several population groups are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence and are overrepresented as victims in statistics from population surveys, including girls and women, sexual and gender-diverse people, Indigenous women, and women with disabilities20,34,35. Other groups may also be vulnerable to sexual violence, including older women, racialized women, immigrant women, refugee women, and homeless women. These women may be invisible in certain surveys and statistics due to limitations in data collection methods, sample sizes, or potential underreporting of sexual violence by these groups (e.g., feelings of shame, fear of being reported or deported, fear of stigmatization, lack of trust in police and health services)36. People who belong to more than one of these categories may be at even greater risk of becoming victims or suffering more severe consequences, as they may experience a combination of various forms of oppression that lead to even greater challenges.

Programs designed specifically for young women aim to reduce the risk of sexual violence. Several of these programs have been implemented and evaluated among university students2. They mainly aim to improve participants’ ability to recognize risky situations and enhance their personal safety. Some programs also include teaching resistance strategies to reduce the risk of becoming a victim of sexual violence, such as self-defence classes26. However, their effects are mixed. Some studies report no effect on the risk of experiencing sexual violence and even adverse effects among participants, such as greater adherence to myths about sexual violence24,26. By contrast, other studies show a decrease in belief in these myths, a decrease in feelings of guilt after being a victim of sexual violence, and even a reduction in attempted and actual sexual assaults25,26,37–39.

Programs based on a physical self-defence approach have been criticized, however, because they place the responsibility for preventing sexual violence on potential victims rather than on perpetrators and society as a whole2.

Treatment of sexual recidivism

Several measures are aimed at preventing recidivism among individuals who have committed a sexual offense and are already known to the authorities. Treatments designed for them, such as cognitive behavioural therapy, are generally effective in reducing sexual recidivism, i.e., they reduce the risk of a new sexual offense being committed40–42. Treatment is often more effective when the risk of recidivism is high among the individuals undergoing treatment and when the treatment is specific to this population42. Furthermore, the success of the treatment is related to its completion. This finding is important, considering that approximately one-third of perpetrators of sexual offenses who begin treatment do not complete it43.

For more information

On violence prevention in Québec, consult:

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Author: Maude Lachapelle, Scientific Advisor, INSPQ
Contributor: Anne-Sophie Ponsot, Scientific Advisor, INSPQQ
External review: Larissa Ouedraogo, M.Sc., Planning, Programming and Research Agent, Regional Public Health Department, CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal
Geneviève Paquette, Ph. D., Full Professor, Department of Psychoeducation, Université de Sherbrooke
Jacinthe Dion, Ph. D., Professor, Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières

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