Supporting and Evaluating Community-Base Primary Prevention of Sexual Violence

Sexual violence is a serious public health problem. Nationwide, 81% of women and 43% of men reported experiencing some form of sexual harassment and/or assault in their lifetime. According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, it is estimated that 734,630 people were raped (including threatened, attempted, or completed rape) in the U.S. in 2018. A significant number of crimes are never reported for reasons that include the victim’s feeling that nothing can/will be done and the personal nature of the incident. The Center for Community Health and Development provides evaluation and technical support for four KDHE supported Sexual Violence Prevention and Education community-based initiatives. Training and technical assistance is provided by the Center to build community capacity to implement primary prevention focused on community and societal socioecological levels of the community. The community initiatives conduct community assessments, develop community strategic and action plans, implement prevention interventions and evaluate their efforts. The Community Check Box, an online monitoring and evaluation system, is used by the community initiatives and the State Action Planning Committee to document and evaluate success.