“Sexual
Violence Prevention:
Building
Leadership and Commitment
to Underserved
Communities”
(BRENDA:)
Hello, and welcome to this special satellite broadcast, “Sexual
Violence Prevention: Building Leadership
and Commitment to Underserved Communities.”
I’m Brenda Wood, your moderator for this broadcast, and we’re
coming to you live from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in
Sexual violence is a major public health problem, and the CDC’s
Sometimes even the best sexual violence prevention programs don’t reach all individuals or groups at risk, such as racial and ethnic minorities, the elderly, people with disabilities, or those who live in rural or inner city areas.
In order to help address this problem, this broadcast will showcase four innovative community-based sexual violence prevention programs. These four programs were identified by experts in the field as good examples of programs that are working to prevent sexual violence in traditionally underserved communities. The featured programs are:
· The Meet and Greet Program, which serves Alaskan native women,
· Pittsburgh Action Against Rape, or PAAR, which reaches out to women with disabilities,
·
Arte Sana, which helps
Hispanic and
· Tapestri, which provides support to refugee and immigrant women.
It’s important to acknowledge that most of the prevention programs you’ll see today have not been through rigorous evaluation to determine exactly how well they prevent sexual violence. However, they have been successful in reaching underserved populations in their communities, and show lots of promise.
With this thought in mind, I want to outline the objectives for this videoconference. When this broadcast is finished, you should be able to:
· Explore the need to address sexual violence prevention in your own community,
· Describe the steps necessary to implement prevention strategies using a public health approach,
· Identify various ways to reach your underserved communities,
· Initiate dialogue among new partners about sexual violence prevention,
· And recognize how multiple forms of isolation as systemic barriers can contribute to sexual violence.
We’ll explore all of these issues through video segments, panel presentations, and group discussions.
I’d like to introduce you to our panel of experts who will share information and highlight key points for you to consider today.
Doctor Michael de Arellano is a Researcher
with the National Violence Against Women Prevention
Research Center, located at the Medical University of South Carolina in
Corinne Graffunder is Chief of the Program Implementation and Dissemination Branch in the Division of Violence Prevention here at the CDC. This branch of the CDC supports a rape prevention and education program in every state and U-S territory.
Next is Sandra Cashman,
the Injury Prevention Program Manager with the New Mexico Department of
Health. She is also the state rape
prevention and education coordinator and works closely with the New Mexico
Sexual Violence Coalition.
And Doctor Jamila R. Rashid is the Associate Director for Policy, Planning, and Evaluation at the CDC in the Office of Minority Health. Her area of expertise is program evaluation.
A big thanks to all of you for joining us today.
And now for some
important housekeeping information.
If you’re having technical difficulties downlinking our signal, call us right away at 1-800 728- 82 32. That’s 1-800 728- 82 32. If you’re viewing the broadcast from outside
the
You’ll be glad to know that continuing education credit is available to you for participating in this videoconference. To receive credit, you need to register and complete the evaluation form. We’re offering C-M-E, C-N-E, CHES (chez) and regular CEU credit for this broadcast.
Specific information on how to get credit is available at your viewing site, or on the website; I’ll also give you more information about accreditation at the end of the broadcast.
We welcome your questions and comments about the presentation today; we’ll have a question and answer session during this broadcast where you’ll be able to ask questions of our panel members through toll-free numbers, fax, email, or T-T-Y lines. I’ll give you those phone numbers now so that you can write them down and call in with questions at any time during this broadcast.
For regular voice calls, the number is 800- 793- 8598. If you’re watching us from outside the U-S, call 404- 639-0180.
The fax number is 800- 553- 6323. If you’re calling from
outside the
The email address is D-V-P Satellite at CDC dot GOV.
T-T-Y callers dial 800- 815- 8152. The international T-T-Y number is 404- 639- 0182.
Please remember that all the materials
from the broadcast today are available on the broadcast website, including the
presentations, background information, resource information, and discussion
questions.
The discussion questions on the website are provided as a catalyst to enhance dialogue, foster partnerships, and encourage action within your community.
Let’s kick off the heart of our broadcast with a message from the Director of the CDC, Doctor Julie Gerberding.
(TAPE)
(BRENDA:)
Thank you Doctor Gerberding and Attorney General Baker, for your insight on today’s topic. Now let’s get to work.
Michael will help us better understand the magnitude of the problem we are dealing with by giving us statistics and background information on sexual violence in racial and ethnic communities, and among persons with disabilities.
(MICHAEL:)
Thank you, Brenda.
I’d like to start off by talking about
sexual violence in general; it’s a major health problem that impacts the lives
of children, adolescents, and adults.
Many victims of sexual violence do not come forward, making rape one of
the most under-reported crimes and public health problems in
I want to talk about some statistics that break down the problem of sexual violence among minorities, but first let’s define the problem.
It’s important to realize that sexual violence encompasses a range of acts, including coerced sex in marriage, date rape, rape by strangers, sexual harassment, sexual abuse of children, forced prostitution or sex trafficking, and violent acts against genitalia.
As Dr. Gerberding just mentioned, The National Violence Against Women Survey, conducted in 1995, showed that one in six women and one in thirty-three men have experienced an attempted or completed rape. This study, and another well-known study that I’ll be talking about, the National Women’s Study, defined rape as: “An attempted or completed event that occurs without the victim’s consent, involving the use of force, or threat of force, to penetrate the victim’s vagina or anus by penis, tongue, fingers, or object; or to the victim’s mouth by a penis.
The National Women’s Study, or N-W-S, was a telephone survey conducted in 1989 of about four thousand women across five racial and ethnic groups in the United States who were eighteen years or older. This study measured the scope of sexual violence among this sample of women.
To be clear about the type of sexual assault experienced, respondents were asked four screening questions; there’s one example of the questions on your screen right now.
The questions were specific to men and women as perpetrators, and described the assault as being oral, anal, or genital.
This bar graph shows the percentage of women within each ethnic group that reported experiencing a completed sexual assault during their lifetime. The results show that although forcible rape occurs across all ethnic groups, it appears to be higher among Native American women. It was reported that one in four Native American women experienced a completed rape in their lifetime.
This chart highlights the percentage of women who were sexually assaulted by a stranger. You can see that “stranger assault” is a much larger problem among Hispanic women, at twenty-one percent.
Now we’ll look at the variable of family members as perpetrators. Native Americans, at thirty-five percent, report a higher rate of victimization by someone in their immediate family, such as father, stepfather, brother or husband.
When you look at other family members as perpetrators, Hispanics had a higher rate of victimization at twenty-three percent, while African American women had a lower rate at eleven percent.
This study also found that African-American Women, at thirteen percent, were more likely to report being raped by a boyfriend.
Let me sum up the key points from the data charts you’ve just seen.
As far as prevalence goes:
· Native Americans appear to be at a significantly greater risk for sexual assault.
· African Americans appear to be at a slightly higher risk of sexual assault by a boyfriend, but the statistics are somewhat similar to those of Hispanic and Non-Hispanic Whites.
· Hispanic victims were more likely to have been assaulted by a stranger.
Now let’s shift away from national studies and discuss data on sexual violence among persons with disabilities.
As you hear this data, keep in mind that these individuals experience high rates of victimization.
The term “disability” includes physical, mental, or developmental disorders. Such disabilities include impairments of mobility, cognition, speech, vision, or hearing.
Individuals with disabilities represent about thirty-nine to fifty-four million people in the U-S.
One recent study reported that about
fifteen to nineteen thousand people with developmental disabilities are raped
in
Like other rape victims, people with disabilities who experience sexual violence often know the perpetrator. Perpetrators are generally males, and can include health care providers, family members, acquaintances, and other people who also have a disability.
One of the programs featured on today’s broadcast, PAAR, will provide a great overview of sexual violence among those who are disabled.
Being aware of the prevalence of sexual violence in your community is an important first step in creating a sexual violence prevention program. I hope that you’ll get ideas from today’s broadcast about different data sources that are available to you.
A resource available from the CDC is the “Sexual Violence Surveillance Uniform Definitions and Recommended Data Elements.” This newly developed publication provides comprehensive definitions and identifies forms of sexual violence.
Remember, without data or other critical information, there is little pressure on anyone to acknowledge or respond to any public health problem.
The CDC surveillance definitions, my presentation, and additional information from the national studies that I’ve mentioned are available at the program website. That address again is W-W-W dot P-H-P-P-O dot CDC dot GOV forward slash P-H-T-N forward slash S-V-P-R-E-V.
(BRENDA:)
Thanks for all that great information, Michael. Now that we’ve looked at the scope of the problem, I’d like to ask Corinne to explain the Risk Factors for sexual violence, and Isolation as a systemic barrier, which affect all underserved populations. Corinne?
(CORINNE:)
Thanks, Brenda. As we have learned, sexual violence prevention is difficult in any community because of factors such as sexual stereotypes, community norms, and cultural beliefs. The problem is more complex for communities who also face the economic and social problems that contribute to general violence in our society, like poverty, unemployment and racism.
We need to take into account all of these if we want to prevent sexual violence.
After you have defined the problem through data, the next step is to identify factors that contribute to the problem.
Identifying the specific factors within your community that put individuals at risk for victimization or perpetration and those that protect them against sexual violence is an essential part of prevention education. The programs highlighted in the video segments will identify many risk factors, so rather than discuss them now, let’s take a look at protective factors.
Here are some examples of protective factors that programs can build on to help end sexual violence:
· Encourage a strong support system of friends and relatives,
· Challenge attitudes or behaviors that result in victimization and perpetration, and
· Influence social norms or attitudes about violence.
During the planning of this broadcast, we felt that it was important to identify issues that impact communities not being reached by sexual violence prevention efforts. We organized a planning committee made up of researchers and practitioners to help us examine barriers that prevent access to ongoing sexual violence prevention programs. The committee identified Isolation as a cross-cutting systemic barrier to sexual violence prevention and education efforts.
For the purposes of this program, isolation is defined as having limited or no access to rape prevention efforts. This is especially true in underserved communities, like those that Michael discussed earlier.
A public health approach challenges all of us to look at Isolation as a systemic and institutional barrier, rather than a personal or individual problem.
And in order to understand Isolation, we need to view it on a population level, rather than on an individual level.
Isolation can take many forms in a community. It can be:
· Geographic
· Economic
· Political, or
· Social
Let’s take a closer look at each of these.
Geographic isolation means that there is limited access to health and human services such as prevention programs, clinics, rape crisis centers, hospitals, or counseling. This is often due to the lack of transportation or location of these services.
Economic isolation is a lack of resources at the community or individual level to adequately fund sexual violence prevention or services.
Political isolation
refers to community-level barriers that exclude people from active involvement
in shaping the political will of their communities. Often, the judicial system
and community members
don’t even acknowledge sexual violence as a problem.
We often use the term “Social isolation” to refer to those groups of people who are homeless, poor, or incarcerated. And, while this is true, we need to think about how we isolate populations from our programs and services based on culture. This is represented by our lack of culturally appropriate and language-specific programs and services.
Isolation, whether geographic, economic, political or social, is a major contributing factor in how women experience violence; it is often also a consequence of sexual abuse.
Another important aspect to consider is the link between isolation and perpetration. It has been well documented that boys and young men who are at high risk for many social and behavioral problems including sexual violence perpetration are isolated. Unfortunately, many of our sexual violence prevention efforts are not directed to this population.
Our research found that there is little data out there that acknowledges isolation as a contributing factor to sexual violence. So, why should we consider isolation? Let me say that addressing Isolation as a barrier gives us an opportunity to expand the reach of our programs, which can lead to improved health outcomes, and hopefully diminish exposure to violence.
As you view today’s featured programs, keep the concept of isolation as a barrier foremost in your mind. Each of these programs work with communities that face some form of isolation.
(BRENDA:)
Thanks, Corinne, for your insight.
You’ll be able to see how Michael and Corinne’s information works in real-life situations when we visit the four sexual violence prevention programs across the country through the magic of video.
Each video segment begins with an overview of the organization’s mission and description of their program, and then highlights components of the public health model that Doctor Gerberding described earlier.
We’ve included visual markers during the program segments to let you know exactly which component of the model is being addressed at that time.
Let’s start this journey way up North, with a visit to an innovative grassroots
collaboration that addresses rape prevention in
(TAPE)
(BRENDA:)
That’s a very innovative program they have in place in
(SANDRA:)
Well, let’s look at their program through the lens of the public health model.
First of all, they used police reports which
is a traditional data source.
This helped them to define the problem of sexual violence in the
The data showed an increase in the number of sexual assault cases reported during the month of October. Further assessment showed this increase was during the weeklong Alaska Federation of Natives Conference. During this week, there was a short term surge in the population in the downtown area, and at the same time there was an increase in alcohol sales. Another factor they considered was the transient population, and their lack of awareness of the dangers in the city. The Meet and Greet program promotes awareness using messages and services targeted to address these risk factors.
(CORINNE:)
Looking at collaboration, the Meet and Greet partners used an innovative approach to develop and implement their program. They enlisted the help of the beverage association, bar owners, community volunteers, police, and sexual assault and domestic violence crisis centers.
It’s interesting to see that this program is replicated during the month of April for Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The results from this initiative have been noticed by the Anchorage Police, who report an increased awareness of risk for sexual violence. They also noted changes in behaviors during this time period.
(BRENDA:)
Thank you, Sandra and Corinne.
Now we go to the Northeast to check in with a group that works
with people with disabilities; who are often
underserved in our communities. It’s
Pittsburgh Action Against Rape, or PAAR, in
(TAPE)
(BRENDA:)
What a unique program at work in
(MICHAEL:)
Again, we’re looking at this unique program from a public health perspective, and PAAR demonstrates all four components throughout their prevention program.
They used a traditional source for data, a researcher within their community. But did you notice that the organization didn’t go out and seek this data; rather the researcher brought to their attention the problem of sexual assault against persons with disabilities.
(BRENDA:)
Thanks, Michael. As an evaluation expert, what are your thoughts about PAAR, Jamila?
(JAMILA:)
We need to keep an open mind and open door to opportunities for new data sources and new partners. To learn more, PAAR conducted focus groups and developed an advisory committee, which included persons with disabilities. I really liked how they conveyed the importance of including representatives from the different communities they serve.
Their program responds to the barriers of access to services for persons with disabilities by developing the communication skills of those who provide services to them in the community. They focus on dispelling myths about sexuality and disabilities.
Ongoing evaluation also helped them to modify and strengthen their program. Evaluation is important. It can reinforce the need to address the problem, give you an idea of how well strategies are working, and can help determine what other areas need strengthening. This is all great information to have on hand when applying for funding!
(BRENDA:)
Thank you Michael and Jamila, now
let’s visit the Arte Sana, or “Art Heals” group in
(TAPE)
(BRENDA:)
That’s a wonderful story about using art and community education, not to mention the collaboration between several different community groups. Corinne, what do you think about the Arte Sana program?
(CORINNE:)
Arte Sana identified the need for
prevention education when they noticed an increased demand for training in the
They deal with this issue by training community leaders to recognize the attitudes and behaviors that encourage sexual violence. Then these leaders become resources in the community, which can also serve as a protective factor.
(SANDRA:)
Corinne, what I noticed was that through their collaborations, Arte Sana is able to reach high-risk groups such as convicted perpetrators. The Healing Hearts are used to help perpetrators empathize with their victims and give them a way to acknowledge their role in the pain they caused their victims. This strategy is used to begin the perpetrators reintegration into the community.
(BRENDA:)
And we end our journey from across the nation in our own backyard, with a
program in
(TAPE)
(BRENDA:)
Tapestri’s done an incredible job of protecting those who have no voice. What important points did you come away with from this program, Michael?
(MICHAEL:)
Tapestri has quite an interesting program. They used a non-traditional source for collecting data directly from the community. Tapestri decided to talk to the taxi drivers when they learned that some cab drivers were being paid to bring clients to businesses for prostitution services.
Once Tapestri learned about the cab drivers’ role in the sex industry, they went to the Coalition Against Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking, so that together they could seek legislative accountability.
Prevention efforts should include everyone who can have an impact. Holding the cab drivers accountable for their role was one step toward addressing the problem of sex trafficking.
(JAMILA:)
Tapestri also addresses other related factors, such as educating the public that prostitution is not a victimless crime, fighting misconceptions about prostitution as a lifestyle choice, and discounting the glamorization of prostitution in general. All of these beliefs, if left unchanged within our communities, put women at risk.
(BRENDA:)
Let’s talk about the different approaches that the programs we viewed used, and
how their successes can translate into other sexual violence programs across
the country. Sandra, will you start?
(SANDRA:)
Sure, Brenda. I’d like to drive home the point about the value of using the public health model in sexual violence prevention programs.
As you can see from what was presented today, there is great value in using the model to help you think about your prevention efforts in a systematic manner. It enables you to organize efforts and describe the problem in your community; identify risk and protective factors; test strategies to see what works; and share successes so that others may benefit.
(MICHAEL:)
I’d like to touch on Isolation as a systemic barrier again. Although this issue wasn’t specifically addressed in the video presentations, all four programs demonstrated how to reach isolated populations. For instance, PAAR helped to reduce physical isolation among persons with disabilities. Arte Sana used culture and language-specific training to bridge societal gaps. Tapestri collaborates with other advocacy organizations to give a voice to those who are politically isolated. And finally, The Meet and Greet Program in Alaska addresses the geographic isolation that places some people at risk when they don’t have their own transportation, or in some cases, no place to stay.
(CORINNE:)
Another good point to mention here is building leadership, which includes partnership and capacity building.
The CDC has heard from service providers and advocates who want
to reach all the populations in their communities, but they’ve admitted that
there just aren’t enough resources available to do so. Building leadership and commitment to reach
out to underserved communities is an important step towards expanding their
program’s reach. Without the commitment to address the needs of underserved
communities as a priority, they will always be underserved or unreached.
Collaboration with these communities and those who serve them is
extremely important. You can tell from
the programs that we just saw how collaboration enhanced their capacity to
serve their communities. Keep in mind
that working with different representatives from your community helps to create
a coordinated response to the problem of sexual violence. As you come together to develop plans, one of
your goals should be to enhance your knowledge and ability to respond to sexual
violence as a group.
(BRENDA:)
Thanks everyone, that’s a lot of information to think about, and I’m sure it will spur some discussion after the broadcast.
Now we’re going to ask the panelists to answer some of the
questions that were sent in during the broadcast. We’re still accepting questions; call the
numbers listed on screen, but please bear in mind that we may not be able to
respond to all of your questions during this broadcast.
Any unanswered questions will be posted on the broadcast website.
Our first question from (location) asks _________
____________________________________.
_______________, would you like to respond to this?
Q& A session
(BRENDA:)
I’d like to thank everyone who called or sent in questions, our panelists have shared some great information with you today.
Now let’s listen to a special message from Doctor Sue Binder,
Director of the
(TAPE)
(BRENDA:)
Thank you, Doctor Binder. And now it’s time to take care of a few more housekeeping details.
For those of you interested in continuing education credits for this program – you must register and complete an evaluation in order to receive credit. We’re offering C-M-E, C-N-E, CHES (chez) and regular CEU credit based on two hours of instruction.
Remember, continuing education credit is available ONLY through the CDC’s Continuing Education and Training online system.
To receive credit for this videoconference, you’ll need to know the course number to identify the correct evaluation on the online system.
Please, write it down now.
The course number for this satellite broadcast is S-B- zero – 1- 1- 4.
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The webcast will be available on this website for thirty days. After thirty days, it will be archived on this site for three years.
This broadcast will also be available on videotape within a few
weeks.
To request your one free copy of the program, send an email to: D-V-P INFO at CDC dot GOV.
You can also receive credit for the archived webcast and videotape copies of this satellite conference for up to three years.
Those course numbers are:
W-D zero zero 1-7 for the archived webcast, and
V-C zero zero 5-5 for videotape copies.
Here’s how to get credit!
The CDC training and continuing education online system is simple to operate. Use this address to access the system:
W-W-W dot P - H - P - P -O dot CDC dot GOV forward slash P - H - T - N ON-LINE, all one word.
Please verify what you’ve written with what’s on the screen right now.
In addition to the extensive help systems, you can also ask for assistance over the telephone. If you have any problems with the online system, call us toll free at 800- 41- TRAIN, that’s 800- 4-1-8- 72-46.
This toll free number is available Monday through Friday from
Or you can also receive assistance by Email. Our address is C - E at CDC dot GOV. The registration and evaluation forms will be active on the online system until May 5, 2003 for the satellite broadcast and live webcast, and for up to three years for the archived webcast and videotape; but we recommend you complete the process sooner rather than later. Please try to wrap it up in the next few days if possible, while it’s fresh on your mind.
(BRENDA:)
I’d like to give you a few additional
resources to get more information about the topics covered in today’s
broadcast.
(BRENDA, VO:)
The
For more information about sexual violence and other topics covered in this broadcast, visit the National Sexual Violence Resource Center website at W-W-W dot N - S - V - R - C dot ORG.
Finally, if you would like to find out more about upcoming Public Health Training Network courses, visit the PHTN website at W-W-W- DOT- C-D-C- DOT- G-O-V forward slash P-H-T-N.
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the panel members for sharing their expertise with us today. I would also like to thank the programs that we visited across the country who shared their time and wisdom, and everyone at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who participated in and supported the creation of this broadcast.
And finally, thank you
for joining us today for this special broadcast, “Sexual Violence Prevention: Building Leadership and Commitment to
Underserved Communities.” We’ll close
the broadcast with a Native song and dance that was given as a gift to those
working on sexual violence prevention from the Sleeping Lady Drum group in