Prevention is Now With PCASA

For over 20 years, Coaching Boys Into Men (CBIM) has been utilizing the unique bond between coaches and their athletes to encourage open and honest discussions about healthy relationships and standing up for respect.  Recently, CBIM introduced a series of advanced tools kits for coaches to encourage ongoing skill development and multi-year implementation. 

Social norms are the unwritten rules of beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors that are considered acceptable in a particular social group or culture. An important part of prevention is understanding what social norms are problematic and how do we replace them with new social norms that prevent sexual violence at all levels.  Dr. Laura Kollar with the CDC joins us to discuss how we go about the changes and ultimately how we change the world.

Topics Covered Include:

• What exactly is a social norm?
• What is the difference between a social norm and a narrative
• How are social norms established, and how long does it typically take
• How long do the effects of a social norms campaign last
• How do social norms campaigns work (particularly as it relates to sexual violence) – what are the steps, and how much time should you be prepared to dedicate to it?
• Examples of social norms changes across the social ecological levels

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49.7 million U.S. singles have tried online dating representing 91% of all the single people in the country. 10%, or almost 5 million U.S. profiles are fake.  Additionally 10% of sex offenders are on at least one dating site.

Thousands of crimes are facilitated by online dating apps annually- everything from thefts and scams to abductions, rapes, and murders. So how how is an industry that made $4 billion keeping their subscribers safe? The answer may surprise you.

Nancy Jo Sales is a New York Times bestselling author and award-winning journalist who has written for Vanity Fair and many other publications. Her latest book, Nothing Personal: My Secret Life In the Dating App Inferno (2021), is a memoir of her time on dating apps intertwined with research and interviews about the online dating industry.  In 2018, she released her HBO documentary, Swiped: Hooking Up In the Digital Age.  

Nancy Jo discusses with us just how common problematic behavior online is, what the risks to users of dating apps are and what the dating app companies are (or are not) doing to ensure the safety of their users

With the cost of workplace sexual harassment for both the survivor and the business so high, why is the issue so under reported and what can businesses do to better prevent it? Professor Alice Hsiaw, the Assistant Professor of Economics at the International Business School at Brandeis University, and Ing-Haw Cheng, Associate Professor at University of Toronto - Rotman School of Management, both wondered the same thing. In their upcoming research paper titled "Reporting Sexual Misconduct slated for publication in the American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, they take a look at just how complicated the process of coming forward after harassment really is and offers insight.

Topics Covered 

• How has the #MeToo movement both positively and negatively impacted reporting of workplace sexual harassment
• How they idea of "game theory" impacts why someone does or does not disclose harassment
• How can the research be used to improve harassment prevention and reporting policies and procedures

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Women, and other marginalized populations such as people of color and those who identify as LGBTQ, continue to find themselves on the receiving end of harassment and sexual violence in the workplace. So how can we bring those scales in balance and reduce risk.

In the CDC’s technical package for sexual violence prevention, one of the strategies they name is “Promote Social Norms that Protect Against Violence” with one of the recommended approaches as engaging men and boys as allies. But what does that mean, really? What should men’s role be in sexual violence prevention? What methods are going to the most successful in reaching them? What are the obstacles in getting there?

To help us work our way through this issue is Dr. Lindsay Orchowski, a Staff Psychologist in the Adult Outpatient Division in the Department of Psychiatry within Lifespan Physicians Group and Associate Professor (Research) at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University. She is also the Deputy Title IX Coordinator for the Medical School. She is also the Associate Editor for Psychology of Women Quarterly, on the Editorial Board for the journal Violence Against Women, and is Consulting Editor for Psychology of Violence.  In 2018, she published the Co-Edited book "Sexual Assault Risk Reduction and Resistance: Theory Research and Practice”

Also joining us is Dr Alan Berkowitz,  an independent consultant working with colleges, universities, public health agencies, military organizations, and communities to design programs that address health and social justice issues – such as sexual violence.

He developed one of the first rape prevention programs for men in the United States at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. He is an authority in the development of the Social Norms Theory and has implemented several successful programs. He has been published multiple times including:

· Preventing Sexual Aggression among College Men: An Evaluation of a Social Norms and Bystander Intervention Program

· Working with Men to Prevent Violence Against Women

Most recently both Dr Orchowski and Dr Berkowitz edited the upcoming book on Engaging Boys and Men in Sexual Assault Prevention which is due out later this year.

Topics covered include: 

• Why do men and boys need to be involved in sexual violence prevention?
• What should men's roles be within sexual violence prevention?
• What are the dangers of involving men in sexual violence prevention and what can be done about them?
• How is the messaging for men different than for women?
• What makes a prevention program involving men and boys successful?
• Why do social norm approaches to sexual violence prevention need to be reinforced and how often

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Individuals working in the restaurant industry face some of the highest levels of workplace sexual harassment. According to a report from the Center on Poverty and Inequity, 90% of women working for tips within the foodservice industry have experienced some form of sexual harassment or assault. However, it is not just women that are being harassed and assaulted. That same report stated 60% of transgender individuals and 46% of men working for tips have also reported experiencing harassment or assault.

We live our lives online – we shop online, socialize online, work online, and we are harassed online. According to a 2020 Pew Research Center survey, 41% of Americans have experienced some form of online harassment, including offensive name-calling, humiliation, stalking, physical threats, harassment over a sustained time, or sexual harassment. These behaviors are found on social media sites, texts, emails, messenger systems, and Zoom meetings, with women, people of color, and LGBTQ individuals receiving a disproportionate amount of the abuse.

With the average person spending a little over six and a half hours online (at least two of which or spent exclusively on social media), it is important to understand what types of harassment and abuse people are experiencing, where they are most commonly experiencing it, and what we can do to stop it.  

To help us understand more about the issues of online harassment is Ana Velasquez,  Program and Communications Associate at Hollaback! and is the moderator at HeartMob- a community dedicated to ending online harassment.

Topics Covered:

• What Heartmob is and how it works?
• Is the online harassment we are seeing a mirror of what is happening in real life, or is this a unique form of harassment?
• What are some of the most common forms of online abuse and harassment?
• Does there seem to be any one reason why people seem almost eager to be so abusive online?
• Are there any statistics that show how often harassment that starts online moves into the real world?
• What are some of the repercussions survivors experience?
• Are there specific platforms that have proven to be more problematic for harassment than others and, if so, do we know why?
• What do people need to know about staying safe online?
• If you experience harassment online, what should you do?

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Sexual harassment and violence in K-12 schools is also a very real issue and significantly under reported. The US Department of Education Office for Civil Rights data collection reported sexual violence in schools rose over 50% from approximately 9600 reports in the 2015-16 school year to almost 15,000 in the 2017-18 school year.  Many parents and kids are often unaware of the protections Title IX mandates for students in grades K through 12 in schools receiving federal funding. Additionally, it is more common for administrators at this level to be unaware of what their obligations are under federal law and often lack qualified Title IX coordinators.

Ultimately, this leaves us with a serious lack of reliable data to fully understand the issue and what needs to be done to prevent sexual violence in our children’s schools and poorly trained staff in charge of whatever prevention efforts are currently in place.

Joining us, to help us better understand the full scope of the issue, is Heidi Goldstein, the board chair for Stop Sexual Assault In Schools, a non-profit organization that was specifically created to address sexual harassment/assault and K-12 students’ rights. She is also a member of the Berkley Unified School District Sexual Harassment Advisory Committee, and an adult advisor to the student grassroots advocacy organization, BHS Stop Harassing.

Topics Covered Include:

• What led to the formation of BHS Stop Harassing and what the students have been doing?
• Why are schools failing to let parents and students know what their rights and protections are under Title IX?
• What are the biggest compliance challenges for K-12 schools and why are they happening
• What is the Sexual Harassment: Not In Our School program and how does it work
• What can parents and students do to advocate for themselves and prevent sexual violence in their schools?

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In 2020 when so many people found themselves working from home as a result of the pandemic, some thought harassment numbers would go down. Instead, cases of gender and racial harassment have gone up for a variety of reasons

And even though the country is opening back up, the virtual workplace is likely not going away. Many businesses have said they would like to retain at least some remote work options citing savings in overhead with fewer employees in the office. And some employees have said they want to continue to have the option to work from home because of the flexibility it affords them

So, what do we do about the issue of online workplace harassment? What does it look like, what are the risk factors for it, and, most importantly, how do we go about preventing it?

To answer those questions joining Preventionist Deb Bonner are Holly Rider Milkovich- the Vice President of impact at EVERFI focusing on sexual and gender-based discrimination, harassment and violence prevention and response. And also, Elizabeth Bille- the Senior Vice President of workplace culture at EVERFI a leading provider of workplace training on a variety of topics including workplace harassment and inclusion. She is the subject matter expert on harassment, discrimination, and retaliation and creating positive and thriving workplace cultures.

Topics Covered Include

• The types of behaviors involved with sexual harassment and how they present online
• What are some of the other costs (beyond liability) that businesses and organizations experience as a result of sexual harassment?
• What are the risk factors for sexual harassment and are these factors more or less problematic in an online environment and why?
• Creating a framework for a comprehensive prevention strategy
• What does an effective sexual harassment prevention plan look like in action

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In a follow up to our earlier podcast about sexual violence in the military, Preventionist Deb Bonner talks with Sgt Taylor A Knueven.  

Sgt Knueven was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division when she was sexually assaulted while at the US border as part former President Trump's military deployment. The experience completely changed her perspective on the pervasiveness of sexual violence within the military and how toxic the military environment can be.

Since then, Sgt Knueven has been on a mission to get the military to make changes to how sexual violence is prevented and investigated.  This past March, the combat medic was one of several who participated in the 18th Airborne Corps' Dragon Lair competition - offering her ideas to revamp the Army's Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention (SHARP) program

TRIGGER WARNING:  Though we will not discuss details of Sgt Knueven's assault, we will be discussing the details of its investigation which could be triggering for some listeners.  Please practice self-care as needed.

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Sexual violence in the military is nothing new and, in fact, has been a growing problem with reports increasing every year since 2006. When Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin first took office in January of this year, his first directive was to order his senior leaders to review their sexual assault programs. He then created an independent panel to review the issue and make recommendations.

The first recommendation from that panel is that decisions to prosecute service members for sexual assault be made by independent authorities, not commanders. Service leaders now have about 30 days to review that recommendation and to provide their own ideas and in put

So here we are with a growing issue and not much visible progress being made. To further discuss the issue of sexual violence within the military is Terri Spahr Nelson. Terri was the Program Coordinator/Sexual Trauma Counselor from 1993 to 1995 at the VA Medical Center in Cincinnati, OH. She was a Principal Investigator in a five-year study/assessment of sexual trauma in U.S. Military which spanned from 1997 to 2002. She was also a Subject Matter Expert and Consultant for the Department of Defense Leadership Team (SAPRO), was on the Care for Victims of Sexual Assault (Confidentiality Subcommittee) and Victim Advocacy Advisory Group (2004, 2005); Department of Defense Sexual Assault Advocate Certification Program (2012-13). Additionally, Teri has written 4 books (including 2015’s For Love of Country: Confronting Rape and Sexual Harassment in the US Military) peer-reviewed journal articles, and 21 booklets distributed nationally in English, Spanish, Braille,

We should also note that Terri herself is a Military Veteran of the US Army serving in Behavioral Sciences, and was twice awarded the Army Commendation Medal with first oak leaf cluster for meritorious service

Topics Covered Include:

• What were the findings of the five-year study/assessment of sexual trauma in U.S. Military
• Are the increases in reports of sexual violence a good sign that more people are coming forward or an indication the problem is getting worse
• Are there unique aspects of the military that make it more difficult to combat the issue of sexual violence
• How is the lack of accountability with perpetrators impacting the problem
• What prevention efforts do the military already employ and what are some of the new prevention efforts being considered

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Sexual assault on college campuses is not a new topic. We have discussed previously on this program issues with Title IX and the prevalence of sexual violence on campus. Despite prevention efforts such as Bystander Intervention training and consent education, the statistics haven’t changed in decades.

Who is sex trafficked, how it is done, and how common it really is often misunderstood by many people.  Dr. Chitra Raghavan joins preventionist Deb Bonner to discuss the nuances of the reality of sex trafficking. Dr. Raghavan is a tenured professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, the Director of the Forensic Mental Health Counseling Program, and the Coordinator for the Victimology Studies in Forensic Psychology. She is also a clinical psychologist in New York City specializing in assessment of sex trafficking, domestic violence, and sexual violence. She has published numerous articles including 2015’s Trauma-coerced Bonding and Victims of Sex Trafficking: Where do we go from here? International Journal of Emergency Mental Health and Human Resilience.

Topics covered include:

• What exactly is sex trafficking
• What populations are most at risk for being trafficked and how we can mitigate those risks
• How does trauma coerced bonding work between the victim and the trafficker
• What social norms surround sex trafficking and how do we change them
• How does pornography impact the sex trafficking trade
• What type of data do we need to collect to better understand the issue and who should be collecting it
• Should the hospitality industry be more involved in the prevention of sex trafficking

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Desk tops, laptops, tablets, smart phones – the entire world is at our fingertips 24 hours a day, seven days a week. While this kind of connectivity can have advantages- there a significant darks side too. Sexual abuse and harassment is on the rise.  With the average US teen spending 7 hour and 22 minutes online, they are not only at significant risk for Technology – Facilitated Sexual Violence (TFSV) but also in perpetrating in the form of Digital Dating Abuse

To discuss this issue is Dr. Lauren Reed. Dr. Reed is an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work at Arizona State University with a PhD in Social Work and Developmental Psychology. Her primary focus is on teen dating and sexual abuse prevention using community-based and youth participatory methods paying particular attention to the role of social media and mobile phones in "digital dating abuse," and how media can be a context and tool for abuse.

Topics covered include: 

• What kind of abuses – especially as they relate to sexual violence - are we seeing in the digital formats?
• Do boys and girls experience digital dating violence the same? What about LGBTQ+ teens?
• Are the traumas from digital dating and sexual abuse different than the trauma experienced in the physical world?
• Are there certain platforms that are more enabling of problematic behavior?
• What types of primary prevention are effective in stopping digital dating and sexual violence?

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Emerging evidence suggests consent education could be an effective form of primary sexual violence prevention.  However, when should that education start and what should it look like?

Dr. Rashmee Singh, an associate professor of Sociology and Legal Studies at Waterloo University in Ontario, Canada, shares her insights on the issue of sexual violence on college campuses that came  collaborative study with several of her colleagues that took an in-depth look at the issue at three Ontario Universities. 

Topics covered include:

• The key findings of her study
• What types of sexual violence prevention programs work and what ones don't 
• Why do college and universities seem reticent to dedicate the time and resources needed to fully address the problem of sexual violence
• How effective of the mobile apps colleges are developing and using to reduce sexual violence
• What any effective sexual violence prevention plan for a college campus should include

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Terri Poore, the Policy Director for the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence joins PCASA preventionist Deb Bonner to discuss  what a national response to sexual violence prevention would look like and what legislation the NAESV is keeping an eye on.

Topics covered include:

• Priorities for Addressing the Needs of Sexual Assault Survivors for the administration's first 100 days
• What changes to Title IX would the NAESV like to see in the roll back of the changes Betsy Devos' administration enacted
• What the NAESV feels are the most significant policy issues the military needs to address to eliminate Sexual Violence within their ranks.
• What is happening with the following legislation:

1. Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act
2. Hold Accountable and Lend Transparency on Campus Sexual Violence Act (H.R. 3381)
3. Bringing an End to Harassment by Enhancing Accountability and Rejecting Discrimination in the Workplace Act or the BE HEARD in the Workplace Act (S. 1082/H.R. 2148)

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Merging evidence is sexual violence prevention increasingly points towards the need to involve men as allies. Sexual violence is widely recognized as a serious public health issue worldwide. It is also widely acknowledged that sexual violence is perpetrated primarily by men against women. So it would stand to reason that any successful primary prevention plan requires men as allies.  Prairie Center Against Sexual Assault Preventionist Deb Bonner speaks with Josue Arguelles, a trainer with A Call To Men about what that engagement would look like.

Topics covered include:

• Why is engaging men as allies so crucial in the prevention of sexual violence
• What the "Man Box" is and how it prevent healthy masculinity
• How intersectionality contribute to the issues surrounding sexual violence and what can be done about it
• How adverse childhood experiences contribute to sexual violence perpetration
• The most essential skills a boy or young man needs to have in order to have healthy relationships and prevent sexual violence

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Make Your Move! is an innovative campaign designed to engage men and women as allies to prevent sexual violence in the greater Missoula, MT area.  The program focuses on positive messaging, engaging bystanders and changing social norms.

Preventionist Deb Bonner speaks with Brenna Merrill about Make your Move!  Topics covered include

• Why it was felt there was a need for this kind of program.
• How the bar workshops work.
• How the positive messaging works  within the program.
• The impact on the Missoula community since the program began.

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The Start Strong program out of Boston, MA is an internationally recognized high school peer leadership program that aims to prevent teen sexual and dating violence, as well as promote healthy relationships. It is highly innovative and really focuses on the promoting social norms and teaching skill section of the CDC’s in order to prevent sexual and teen dating violence. Start Strong works with high school kids covering a wide variety of topic including healthy relationships, deconstructing popular culture to determine appropriate social norms and encourage critical thinking, consent and communication.

Preventionist Deb Bonner talks to Teakia Brown, Start Strong Program Manger, about how the program works and its successes.

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Prairie Center Against Sexual Assault Preventionist Deb Bonner speaks with Campus Organizer Faith Ferber from Know Your IX about Title IX and what a new administration may mean to the changes Betsy DeVos enacted.

Topics covered include:

• What exactly is Title IX and who does it impact?
• What were some of the changes to Title IX that went into effect in 2020 and what the impact of those changes are
• What is the difference between affirmative consent and welcomeness and why does Know Your IX prefer the welcomeness standard
• What should be included in consent education
• Advocacy work Know Your IX is involved with
• How students can get involved with Know Your IX

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Preventionist Deb Bonner talks with Jane Stapleton of Soteria Solutions and the Prevention Innovations Research Center, and co-author of the Bringing In The Bystander (BITB) intervention program.  Topics covered include:

• What is bystander intervention.
• Why is getting bystanders to actively engage so important.
• What are some of the protective factors for sexual violence that is addressed in BITB.
• How BITB works and how it is implemented.
• How does BITB work in the online environment.
• How often is it recommended  colleges provide this training.

If you are a central IL college that would like more information on BITB and bringing it to your campus, please contact Prairie Center Against Sexual Assault at prevention@prairiecasa.org

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In part 2 of 2 parts, preventionist Deb Bonner discusses how the Social Norms Approach (SNA) works as a form of sexual violence prevention and how it works within the bystander intervention frame work with expert Dr. Alan Berkowitz.

Discussion points include:

• What Bystander Intervention is and what are some of the obstacles to it
• How SNA works with bystander intervention
• How using fear to change social norms can make a situation worse
• What Science of the Positive is and how it can be used to prevent sexual violence
• Implementing an SNA prevention program.

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In part 1 of 2 parts, preventionist Deb Bonner discusses how the Social Norms Approach (SNA) works as a form of sexual violence prevention and how it works within the bystander intervention frame work with expert Dr. Alan Berkowitz.    Discussion points include:

What Bystander Intervention is and what are some of the obstacles to it

How SNA works with bystander intervention

How using fear to change social norms can make a situation worse

What Science of the Positive is and how it can be used to prevent sexual violence

Implementing an SNA prevention program.

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