Prevent Violence Against Women on College Campuses - Interfraternity Council

Higher Education Center for Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Violence Prevention Background In 1994, the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was written and moved forward by then-Senator Joseph Biden. VAWA is focused on improving the criminal justice system response to sexual assault, stalking, and domestic violence. Young women between the ages of 16 and 24 have the highest rates of interpersonal violence, and one in five women will be sexually assaulted while attending college. Since April 2011, Vice President Biden and numerous federal agencies have emphasized the need for colleges and universities to improve efforts that address violence against women through such efforts as the Vice President’s “1 is 2 Many” campaign, new Title IX guidance from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, and the Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women’s National Summit on Campus Safety. For campus-based practitioners, one cost-effective way to improve responses to sexual assault against women is to strengthen existing efforts through new student orientation programs. Because prevention research shows that one-time programs have limited effectiveness in making sustained change, a strategic way to improve efforts is to build a coordinated set of prevention efforts throughout the year. This Webinar will provide examples of how campuses can use new student orientation as an entry point to a linked series of prevention efforts addressing violence against women across the school year and throughout the college experience. Two campus prevention practitioners will share their programs. Examples will include (1) one campus’ sexual violence prevention initiative that starts with orientation and builds deliberately over the first two years on campus; and (2) a second campus that addresses violence against women both separately and as part of an overall health and wellness campaign that starts with orientation. The presenters will provide an overview of their violence against women overall programs, describe how their orientation programs serve as an initial kickoff, and discuss how they overcame barriers to coordinating orientation with other violence against women programs. Learning Objectives At the conclusion of this 90-minute Webinar, participants will be able to: 1. Identify research that supports the strategy of linking orientation programs with other prevention efforts addressing violence against women. 2. Incorporate and implement specific ways that campuses have used new student orientation as a kickoff to a coordinated set of violence against women prevention efforts throughout the year. 3. Locate federal government resources for addressing violence against women on campus. 4. Access Higher Education Center services, resources and technical assistance.