Sexual assault includes a variety of coercive behaviors, including physical force, intimidation, and everything from verbal harassment to forced penetration. Power and control, not sexual desire as is commonly assumed, is thought to be the main driving forces behind sexually violent behaviors. Conversely, sexual violence is an aggressive, violent act intended to humiliate, intimidate, degrade, and control the victim (Foster & Fullagar, 2018). Around the world, sexual violence is a significant social and public health issue that needs proper punishment for those responsible. Consequently, little is known about how well sexual assault prevention interventions (SAPIs) work to stop sexual violence in the future.
The primary outcome of most SAPI evaluations is knowledge and attitudes; however, this emphasis is problematic for a number of reasons. The ability to influence attitudes may be constrained by the barrier or floor effects because many individuals may not be willing to accept views that encourage sexual assault. Attitudes and information may be more amenable to socially desirable responses than measurements of conduct. Additionally, modifications to perspectives and knowledge could or might not influence behavior.
Personal and community-level treatments for the prevention of female assault are the two categories used most frequently. Person therapies, like therapy, have more of an emphasis on the individual, whereas community-level interventions, like criminal law reforms and rape victim services, are more system-focused. Interventions at the individual scale aim to lessen the effects of violence, while those at the grassroots level aim to alter how systems react to victims (Henry et al., 2018). The goals of primary prevention are to lower the incidence, secondary prevention to reduce the prevalence, and primary care to lessen the impairment that results from the disease. There has been relatively little attention paid to prevention among perpetrators as the majority of sexual assault preventions have concentrated on postsecondary preventative among victims.
References
Foster, P. J., & Fullagar, C. J. (2018). Why don’t we report sexual harassment? An application of the theory of planned behavior. Basic and applied social psychology, 40(3), 148-160.
Henry, N., Flynn, A., & Powell, A. (2018). Policing image-based sexual abuse: Stakeholder perspectives. Police practice and research, 19(6), 565-581.