There are four types of sexual violence: 1) A completed sex act without the victim’s consent, or involving a victim who is unable to consent or refuse. A victim is unable to consent or refuse due to age, illness, disability, being asleep or under the influence of alcohol or other drugs; 2) An attempted (non-completed) sex act without the victim’s consent, or involving a victim who is unable to consent or refuse; 3) Abusive sexual contact which is defined as intentional touching, either directly or through the clothing, of the genitalia, anus, groin, breast, inner thigh, or buttocks of any person without his or her consent, or of a person who is unable to consent or refuse; and/or 4) Non-contact sexual abuse. This includes “acts such as voyeurism; intentional exposure of an individual to exhibitionism; pornography; verbal or behavioral sexual harassment; threats of sexual violence to accomplish some other end; or taking nude photographs of a sexual nature of another person without his or her consent or knowledge, or of a person who is unable to consent or refuse.”

Sexual health requires a positive and respectful approach to sexuality and sexual relationships, as well as the possibility of having pleasurable and safe sexual experiences, free of coercion, discrimination and violence. For sexual health to be attained and maintained, the sexual rights of all persons must be respected, protected and fulfilled.
- World Bank (2002)

• Sexuality is an integral part of everyone’s personhood;
• Sexuality is not synonymous with sexual intercourse;
• Sexuality influences thoughts, feelings, actions and interactions and thereby our mental, physical and emotional health;
• Sexuality is a fluid construct;
• Sexuality enriches the individual and relationships;
• Healthy sexuality includes a freedom from sexual exploitation, oppression, and abuse;
• Healthy sexuality requires accurate knowledge about sexual development and sexual rights;
• Healthy sexuality acknowledges the impact of history, culture and social context;
• Healthy Sexuality includes knowledge, self-acceptance, identity and partner communication.
• Healthy Sexuality respects the rights of each individual;
• Healthy Sexuality is rooted in equality.

The Sexual Assault Prevention (SAP) Program funds organizations throughout Colorado working on the primary prevention of sexual violence. Sexual Assault Prevention Funds (SAPF) are awarded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through the Rape and Education Program (RPE) and Enhancing and Making Programs and Outcomes Work to End Rape (EMPOWER) project. Colorado currently funds thirteen agencies to plan, implement, and evaluate primary prevention programming.

In addition, the SAP Program facilitates the Sexual Assault Prevention Team, which serves as the advisory board for coordinating the primary prevention of sexual violence across Colorado.

State Prevention Team Vision Statement:
The Colorado State Prevention Team envisions a peaceful society where individuals in Colorado have access to resources that enable all to determine the conditions of their lives. Individuals are valued for who they are, take responsibility for each other's safety, and live their lives free from sexual violence. The Colorado State Prevention Team partners with communities that promote healthy relationships, recognize historical oppressions and privileges, and are inclusive of all gender identities, sexual orientations, cultures, races, ethnicities, abilities, and ages to achieve the primary prevention of sexual violence.

State Prevention Team Mission Statement:
The Colorado Sexual Violence Prevention Team will work with diverse communities to support healing and increase health and safety by examining the root causes of sexual violence, and utilizing solutions generated from communities across the state of Colorado.

For more information about the SAP Program, please contact 303-692-2397.
 

Shared Risk and Protective Factor Project
Historically, prevention programs have focused on one type of violence, often missing the opportunity to evaluate the impact efforts have on multiple types of violence or problem behavior. Increasingly prevention science points toward an integrated approach that addresses violence of various types. The focus of the Shared Risk and Protective Factor project is to create a community response to a wide spectrum of sexual violence, including domestic violence, sexual bullying, dating violence, and sexual assault.

Youth Violence Prevention Integrated Curriculum
The purpose of the Integrated Youth Violence Prevention Curriculum is to effectively target risk factors across several domains of youth violence to increase protective factors. These domains include violence perpetration, bullying, suicide, sexual assault and abuse victimization, and dating violence. It is evident that different forms of violence do not operate in isolation of others. By identifying shared risk and protective factors, it allows for the integration of prevention efforts in different domains of violence. It is purported that by developing protective factors in youth, resilience increases. There is growing evidence that strategies incorporating positive youth development, assets, and resilience have a greater likelihood of improving health outcomes for young people. The Integrated Youth Violence Prevention Curriculum not only helps bridge the gap between adhering to academic standards and increasing protective factors; the curriculum integrates violence prevention education content into academic standards for reading and writing through Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) practice tests.

Content

• SAPF 2010-2011 Application
• RFA 2010-2011 Conference Call Q&A

 

Prevention Spectrum
Prevention of violence against women is “a systematic process that promotes healthy environments and behaviors and reduces the likelihood or frequency of violence against women occurring" (Prevention Institute). Public health activities are often grouped into three prevention categories based on when it occurs. Sexual violence activities can be divided into the following three categories:

Primary Prevention: Approaches that take place before violence has occurred to prevent initial perpetration or victimization.
Secondary Prevention: Immediate responses after violence has occurred to deal with the short-term consequences of violence.
Tertiary Prevention: Long-term responses after violence has occurred to deal with the lasting consequences of violence and perpetrator/offender interventions. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2004).

For more information, please read Sexual Violence and the Spectrum of Prevention. http://www.preventioninstitute.org/pdf/SV%20spectrum%20article.pdf

Compendium of Colorado sexual violence prevention education programs. Click here.  

Colorado Agency Resource List

Sexual Violence Prevention: Beginning the Dialogue
This document was published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and identifies concepts and strategies that may be used as a foundation for planning, implementing, and evaluating sexual violence prevention activities. http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/dvp/SVPrevention.htm

Sexual Violence and the Spectrum of Prevention: Towards a Community Solution
This National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) publication provides advocates, practitioners and educators with a guide for developing a comprehensive community approach to the primary prevention of sexual violence. It explores the Spectrum of Prevention tool, which outlines six levels of intervention and focuses on exploring conditions in an environment, which allow sexual violence to occur and replacing current norms with norms that promote safety, respect and equality. http://www.nsvrc.org/resource/details.aspx?ResourceId=218

Child and Adolescent in Colorado: A 2005 Status Report
http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/ps/YVPP/AssessmentReport.pdf

BOLD Steps Toward Child and Adolescent Health: A Plan for Youth Violence Prevention in Colorado
http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/ps/YVPP/StrategicPlan-BoldSteps.pdf

Sexual Violence Prevention Partners
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). http://www.cdc.gov/injury/index.html
National Sexual Violence Resource Center http://www.nsvrc.org/
National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center http://www.safeyouth.org/scripts/index.asp
PREVENT, Preventing Violence Through Education, Networking and Technical Assistance http://www.prevent.unc.edu/
Prevention Connection: The Violence Against Women Prevention Partnership http://www.preventconnect.org/display/displayHome.cfm
VAWnet, The National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women http://www.vawnet.org/
Prevention Institute http://preventioninstitute.org/index.html
A National Resource Directory and Handbook Preventing Child Sexual Abuse
http://www.nsvrc.org/publications/nsvrc-publications/national-resource-directory-handbook-preventing-child-sexual-abuse
Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault (CCASA) http://www.ccasa.org/
Colorado Coalition Against Domestic Violence (CCADV) http://www.ccadv.org
 

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