Sexual Assault Prevention

Sexual assault is a traumatic experience for a person.  It can occur in a single event or be repetitive over time. Prevention and education are one thing we can do in order to stop sexual assault. Individuals in the ID/A system are 4 times more likely to experience sexual abuse than those individuals that are not in services. Additionally, 70% of people with ID reported experience some form of abuse. Of those 70%, the majority reported that this abuse was ongoing- meaning it occurred more than on time. Sadly only 37% of individuals that experienced abuse reported it.  We can’t ignore these statistics. In an effort to help reduce and prevent sexual assault the Centers for Disease Control came up with the acronym STOPSV.  

Please check out some great resources at the CDC on this topic.   

Resources:

https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/sexualviolence/prevention.html

Rowsell, A.C., Clare, I.C.H., and Murphy, H. (2013). Thepsychological impact of abuse on men and women with severe intellectualdisabilities. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 26, 257-270

1. S          Promote Social Norms that protect against violence
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2. T          Teach skills to prevent sexual assault    
                         
3. O         Provide Opportunities to empower and support individuals
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4. P          Create Protective environments
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5. SV        Support Victims and survivors to reduce long term effects