Evaluation of USVreact: A Staff Training Program to Prevent Sexual Violence at Universities

Abstract

<jats:p> Interventions addressing the endemic of sexual violence at European universities are scarce, particularly those that take a bystander focus to sexual violence prevention and involve university staff. Evidence-based data on their effectiveness are also lacking. This article reports the description of a pilot evaluation study of the USVreact Italian training program addressed to university staff for counteracting sexual violence. We assessed initial (T1) representations of gender-based violence, rape myth acceptance, and attitudes to bystander intervention (172 participants), and evaluated the effectiveness of the course by comparing, via paired-sample t tests, the responses before and after (T2) training (66 participants). Comparison between pre- (T1) and posttraining (T2) responses indicated that the participants’ ability to recognize subtle forms of violence and reduce rape myth acceptance was increased after training. Relatively few training programs based on the bystander approach to prevent gender-based violence at university have been performed to date in Europe and data on their effectiveness are scarce. Several limitations notwithstanding, the present pilot evaluation study provides suggestions for a more systematic evaluation of training interventions that address cultural legitimation of gender-based violence and that sustain bystander interventions in sexual assault prevention. </jats:p>

A Scoping Review of Educational Interventions to Increase Prosociality against Gender-Based Violence in University Bystanders

“…Additionally, 73.3% (n = 11) of the research has been carried out in the USA (Cusano et al 2020;Ortiz and Shafer 2018;Mennicke et al 2018;Salazar et al 2014Salazar et al , 2019Cares et al 2014;Cavacini 2014;Coker et al 2014;Potter et al 2011;Senn and Forrest 2016;Santacrose et al 2019). The remaining percentage has been performed in the United Kingdom (Coker et al 2014), Vietnam (Yount et al 2020), Italy (Martini and Piccoli 2020), and South Korea (Park and Kim 2021) (n = 1 for each country). The first published study (Kuffel and Katz 2002) has 39 citations on ResearchGate and 17 on Springer Link.…”

“…This condition allows a comparative contrast that validates the effectiveness of the intervention process (as a similar effect). Five studies considered only the intervention group (Ortiz and Shafer 2018;Mennicke et al 2018;Coker et al 2014;Senn and Forrest 2016;Martini and Piccoli 2020;Park and Kim 2021), given the number of participants and the conditions of massive and indistinct intervention, which is understandable when it comes to long-term campaigns or programs.…”

“…Studies with voluntary samples (Ortiz and Shafer 2018;Cares et al 2014;Potter et al 2011;Martini and Piccoli 2020;Park and Kim 2021) considered a specific selection of the sample, using incentives to mobilize the interest of the participants. In some cases, by offering a symbolic financial payment or the opportunity to participate in a lottery (during the follow-up and evaluation stages).…”

#StudentsToo. prevalence of sexual assault reports among students of three European universities and their actions post-assault

“…Taking these findings together, it is clear that education concerning SA among students and staff should be delivered via university policies (e.g., USVreact; see [49]), risk education, and prevention programs (see [50,51]). Based on our data, the main issues that should be specifically stressed are 1) the prevalence of SA among students, its characteristics (e.g., that SA is far wider than rape), 2) typical reactions of the victims post-assault, and 3) counterbalancing factors which prevent students with SA history from taking actions, by, for instance, clearly informing students about the instances they should turn to (e.g., university counselor).…”

Leveraging Faith Communities to Prevent Violence against Women: Lessons from the Implementation and Delivery of the Motivating Action through Empowerment (MATE) Program

“…More recently, these programs have been modified and delivered in high schools [ 12 , 13 ]. Bystander programs have also been trialed in the military [ 14 ] and in workplaces [ 15 , 16 ]. Translation into community settings has not been widely reported.…”