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Background of the Program
Sexual violence is a significant public health problem in the United States (U.S.). The National Injury Control and Risk Survey conducted between 2001 and 2003 found that 10.2% of women and 2.1% of men reported experiencing a completed rape at some time in their lives (Basile, Chen, Black & Saltzman, 2007). Additional information on sexual violence is available on-line.
Sexual violence, including rape, is preventable. Recognizing this, Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act in 1994. This landmark legislation established the Rape Prevention and Education (RPE) program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The goal of the RPE program is to strengthen sexual violence prevention efforts. It operates in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and six U.S. territories.
Program Concepts
Primary prevention is the cornerstone of the RPE program. Program activities are guided by a set of prevention principles that include:
- preventing first-time perpetration and victimization,
- reducing risk factors while enhancing protective factors associated with sexual violence perpetration and victimization,
- using evidence when planning prevention programs,
- incorporating behavior and social change theories into prevention programs, and
- evaluating prevention efforts and using the results to improve future program plans.
Prevention requires understanding the circumstances and factors that influence violence. CDC uses a four-level, social ecological model to better explain sexual violence and potential strategies for prevention. This model considers the complex interplay between individual, relationship, community, and societal factors, and allows us to address risk and protective factors from multiple domains.
The RPE program encourages the development of comprehensive prevention strategies through a continuum of activities that address all levels of the social ecological model. It is important that these activities are developmentally appropriate for the audience and are conducted at different life stages. This approach is more likely to prevent sexual violence across a lifetime, than any single intervention or policy change.
Current Activities
Currently funded grantees are:
- Implementing approved activities (e.g., educational seminars, hotline operations, training programs, and the development of informational materials) conducted by state health departments, rape crisis centers, state sexual assault coalitions, and other public and private nonprofit entities;
- Building state and local capacity for program planning, training, implementation, evaluation, surveillance and prevalence studies.
Organizations that receive RPE funds are also working to build prevention capacity within their state, territory, or local community. Prevention planning activities are described below.
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RPE grantees will recruit a diverse group of people to serve on a sexual violence prevention committee. Committee representatives will include partners from the health department, sexual assault coalition, rape crisis centers, and other key prevention stakeholders.
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RPE grantees will assess current prevention needs and resources, current training needs and resources, current activities, and the capacity for evaluation.
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After the assessment is complete, RPE grantees will create a comprehensive, 5-year sexual violence prevention plan. This plan will include how to further develop or enhance existing prevention programs, how to provide training and technical assistance to partners, and how to conduct process and outcome evaluations.
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Once the prevention plan is finalized, grantees will work over the remainder of the funding cycle to implement, evaluate, and refine the plan.
For information on specific activities,
see grantee profiles.
Publications Sexual Violence Prevention: Beginning the Dialogue References Basile KC, Chen J, Black MC, Saltzman LE. Prevalence and characteristics of sexual violence victimization among U.S. adults, 2001-2003. Violence and Victims 2007; 22(4): 437-448. Content Source: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Division of Violence Prevention
Please note: Some of these publications are available for download only as *.pdf files. These files require Adobe Acrobat Reader in order to be viewed. Please review the information on downloading and using Acrobat Reader software.
Page last modified:January 28, 2008