How Colleges Can Support And Empower Students Who Have Experienced Sexual Assault

Sexual assault and relationship violence are significant concerns on college campuses, with one in five women and one in 16 men reporting they were sexually assaulted while in college, according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center. Experiencing sexual assault impacts students’ well-being and can also affect their academics. One study found that 34.1% of students who were sexually assaulted drop out.

Sexual assault and relationship violence can be sensitive and complex topics for colleges to address because each student has unique views, beliefs, and experiences when it comes to these issues. Hence, prevention programs should be designed to provide educational support for all students while also addressing the complexities of the issues and being sensitive to the triggers that affect those who have experienced sexual assault or relationship violence.

To support institutions in providing baseline education for all students while also providing targeted support to students who need it, Vector Solutions has updated its Sexual Assault Prevention for Undergraduates course to include a “pathway” of personalized content called “Empowering You: A Path to Success” for those who identify as someone that has experienced sexual assault and/or related trauma.

Empowering You: A Path To Success

Vector’s Sexual Assault Prevention for Undergraduates course now offers students a customized course experience based on their response to a prompt at the beginning of the course. They will either be presented with the core content of the Sexual Assault Prevention for Undergraduates course, or they will be presented with the new pathway, Empowering You: A Path to Success, which was created for students who have experienced sexual assault or trauma.

The new content in Empowering You: A Path to Success helps the student think about and identify their feelings and emotions, discusses examples of coping strategies, and points the student to resources for support.

The path also provides guidance on how to engage in healthy communication with others, such as how to talk about consent, and shares best practices that can help students protect themselves from unwanted sexual contact. The path also discusses how to help a friend or a peer who may have experienced sexual assault.

Empowering You: A Path to Success uses supportive language designed to help the student feel safe and in control, for instance, validating what the student might be feeling and giving them permission to pause as needed. It includes quizzes and time for reflection.

Personalizing Prevention Programs

When it comes to sexual assault prevention, in order to create a safe campus environment, it’s essential to make sure prevention programs will support all students, whatever their prior experience may be. Providing courses that take into account the experience of survivors will go a long way toward helping institutions develop a comprehensive, effective sexual assault prevention program.

How Vector Can Help

Vector Solutions provides training for higher education staff and students around important safety, wellness, and compliance topics, including sexual assault prevention.

Courses include:

• Sexual Assault Prevention Ongoing: Healthy Relationships
• Sexual Assault Prevention Ongoing: Taking Action
• Clarifying Consent
• Consent and Bystander Intervention
• Title IX Courses