• PREVENTION / EDUCATION

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

SARC’s Sexual Violence Prevention & Education Program addresses the root causes of sexual violence through education in Washington and Multnomah Counties. We believe that sexual violence is preventable. Through the critical examination and analysis of the unhealthy norms in our society and promotion of healthy norms, we hope to create a culture in our communities that values healthy relationships and sexuality thus preventing sexual violence.

PROGRAM PHILOSOPHIES

SARC Resources

The field of public health prevention is defined through three levels of intervention in a health problem. Based on when the intervention is used in targeting prevention of problem, they are:

  1. Primary Prevention: Approaches that are employed before any sexual violence has occurred to prevent initial perpetration and victimization.
  2. Secondary Prevention: An immediate response after sexual violence has been perpetrated.
  3. Tertiary Prevention: A long-term response after sexual violence perpetration.

SARC focuses on primary prevention in our education efforts. Secondary and tertiary prevention are taught at various points during the educational sessions and are not the primary focus. The programs aim to address attitudes, behaviors and beliefs regarding sexual violence in an effort to influence behavior and prevent perpetration from ever happening.

Effective prevention strategies are comprehensive—addressing the multiple levels of influence for sexual violence victimization and perpetration utilizing the social ecological model. SARC’s work considers risk and protective factors for the perpetration of sexual violence across the various levels of the ecological model.

These levels include characteristics of individuals, their relationships, the community and the society.
Examples of these strategies, at the various levels, are:

INDIVIDUAL

Teaching individuals what healthy sexuality & relationships look like and establishing norms around mutuality & respect.

RELATIONSHIP

Providing education on how to create supportive & trauma informed environments.

COMMUNITY

Forming larger groups of important community members & stakeholders that can promote general health & wellbeing in our community.

SOCIETAL

Working with institutions to influence policy & media changes that eradicate all forms of social injustice.

THE CURRICULA

a desk with a satck of three books & red apple on top, colored pencils, and set of building blocks

Our curriculum is linked to state and federal health standards and is based on literature reviews and best practices. The curriculum fulfills required Oregon educational components as legislated by both Erin’s Law and The Healthy Teen Relationship Act. The curriculum is regularly updated with the intention of staying timely, expanding on relevant topics, and improving participant outcomes. The lessons are highly activity based and include components of popular education valuing the students’ culture and experiences. We currently offer an 11-lesson curriculum meant for high school aged youth.

Our Health II Curriculum includes 9 sessions:

  • Lesson 1 – Healthy Relationships
  • Lesson 2 – Communication
  • Lesson 3 – Gender & Sexuality
  • Lesson 4 – Sexual Violence
  • Lesson 5 – Oppression
  • Lesson 6 – Media
  • Lesson 7 – Sexually Explicit Media
  • Lesson 8 – Support & Response
  • Lesson 9 – Preventing Sexual Violence
  • Optional Lesson – Boundaries & Consent
  • Optional Lesson – Breakups & Rejection

RESOURCES

For more information on our program please contact sarc@sarcoregon.org

Check out the links below for organizations, videos, and other resources that address sexual violence prevention topics.