Publication Date
Fall 12-11-2024
Item Type
Image; StillImage
Executive Summary
Introduction
Our team of nursing students collaborated with a university's security office and health services to educate the campus community on sexual assault and gender-based violence. According to the University’s Annual Security and Fire Safety Report, there was a 550% increase in rape cases from 2022 to 2023 (personal communication, 2024). This increase in rape cases indicated a need for increased education and awareness of sexual assault and gender-based violence. Our educational sessions aimed to provide the campus community with education and resources on sexual misconduct and consent to promote healthier relationships on campus.
Background
The population that we served included students attending a small, private Christian university in a suburban neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. According to research from the Association of American Universities (2020), students attending college have an increased risk of experiencing sexual assault and violence. This research found that 26.4% of female undergraduate students and 6.8% of male undergraduate students experience sexual violence. The Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network, RAINN, (2024a) reports that college-age women are 3-4 times more likely than other women to experience sexual violence. Additionally, male college students are five times more likely to fall victim to sexual violence than males of the same age who do not attend college (RAINN, 2024b). Due to our population's increased risk for sexual assault and violence, this community of students had a health need for additional education on sexual violence, consent, and healthy relationships. We partnered with the university's safety and security team to implement educational sessions throughout the university's campus. Through implementing educational sessions for students at this private Christian university, our project helped this student population become more educated about consent, healthy relationships, and preventing gender-based violence.
Furthermore, our project group created a concept paper outlining a proposal to the university board to implement mandatory consent and healthy relationship modules for university students to complete. By proposing the concept of mandatory consent modules, we initiated the process of advocating for increased consent education to students and laid the foundation for others to continue working towards implementing mandatory consent education.
Activities
Our group implemented a series of activities designed to educate students, foster community engagement, and advocate for institutional change. The core of our initiative centered around six educational sessions conducted on campus, fostering an open and inclusive environment where students could learn about the key concepts of consent, healthy relationship dynamics, and strategies to prevent and address sexual misconduct. We incorporated Jeopardy, a question and answer game focused on consent facts, to enhance engagement during our educational sessions, allowing students to reinforce their understanding of these topics. In addition, we developed informative resources, including pamphlets, which were distributed to students, offering accessible information on recognizing and addressing these topics. Posters were also placed in high-traffic areas, reinforcing key messages and ensuring the topic remained visible across campus. Recognizing the importance of extending the reach of our project, we also created an Instagram post designed to spread awareness online, highlighting critical information and resources related to sexual misconduct. Beyond education and awareness, our project included an advocacy component. A concept paper was developed that outlined the importance of implementing mandatory training for all students. The concept paper will be provided to the director of the security office to advocate for institutional change by emphasizing the need for the university to take a more proactive approach to promoting a culture of respect and accountability. A research study by Morean et al. (2021) highlighted that a sexual misconduct prevention training program led to significant improvements among college athletes in several key areas. Participants demonstrated greater awareness of available resources for addressing sexual misconduct, a better understanding of the college's procedures for handling complaints, and increased confidence in the fairness of those procedures. In addition, the training programs fostered an increased recognition of sexual misconduct as a campus issue and enhanced readiness to intervene and help others. Our project activities aimed to ensure that students received valuable knowledge and felt empowered to act as agents of change within the campus community.
Outcomes
Our primary outcome was to increase awareness and education on consent, healthy relationships, and sexual misconduct. To achieve this, we created an educational pamphlet, an Instagram post, three posters, and a “Stall Talk” initiative which places informational posters in bathroom stalls for high visibility. Although we could not measure how many students viewed the materials, the broad distribution and booth engagement suggest increased resource visibility.
Our second outcome was to increase student engagement with our educational sessions and enhance student's self-confidence and self-efficacy in applying concepts of consent. We hosted six educational sessions at the dining hall, residence halls, and commuter lounge on campus. These sessions were designed to encourage participants to identify and write down healthy relationship behaviors on "green flags,” correctly answer Jeopardy questions, and engage in discussions about the concepts. Engagement on-site resulted in a total of 175 interactions with students, including 69 green flags written on, 141 pamphlets distributed, 81 bookmarks on consent handed out, and 134 students declining to participate. The main barrier was the 134 students who chose not to participate in the sessions or materials. Possible explanations include discomfort with the topic, reluctance to engage in front of peers, time constraints such as hunger, being late to class, or other personal factors.
Our long-term outcome was to propose a mandatory consent module to reduce gender-based violence, as reflected in the University’s Annual Security and Fire Safety Report. Due to limited time, we created a concept paper summarizing the project, which can be expanded upon if desired by the organization. The agency supporting our project has committed to presenting the concept paper to the university board at an appropriate future time, ensuring the sustainability of the project beyond our involvement.
Conclusion
In conclusion, our project successfully achieved its primary goal of increasing awareness and education on consent, healthy relationships, and sexual misconduct among the university's student population. We accomplished this through educational sessions, interactive activities, pamphlets, and posters. Despite our successes, we faced several limitations. In some areas, such as the dormitories, we experienced challenges such as low traffic and low engagement. Additionally, some students declined engagement because they were already familiar with the material. However, we received positive feedback from collaborating partners and students on the effectiveness of our approach. These limitations highlight opportunities for future nursing students to expand our work by developing strategies to increase participation in low-traffic areas. As outlined in our concept paper, future projects could also advocate for mandatory consent training. Through this, we aim to ensure that our project will have a long-term impact.
References
Association of American Universities. (2020). Report on the AAU campus climate survey on sexual assault and misconduct. https://www.aau.edu/sites/default/files/AAU-Files/Key-Issues/Campus-Safety/Revised%20Aggregate%20report%20%20and%20appendices%201-7_(01-16-2020_FINAL).pdf
Morean, M. E., Darling, N., Smit, J., DeFeis, J., Wergeles, M., Kurzer-Yashin, D., & Custer, K.
(2021). Preventing and responding to sexual misconduct: Preliminary efficacy of a peer-led bystander training program for preventing sexual misconduct and reducing heavy drinking among collegiate athletes. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(7-8). https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260518777555
Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network. (2024a). Campus sexual violence: Statistics.
https://rainn.org/statistics/campus-sexual-violence
Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network. (2024b). Victims of sexual violence: Statistics.
https://rainn.org/statistics/victims-sexual-violence
Recommended Citation
Babich, Bergen; Blanco Reyes, Dinorah; Campbell, Samantha; Mweru, Balkhita; Roth, Spencer; and Velasco, Alyanna, "Consent, Healthy Relationships, and Sexual Misconduct Education" (2024). Nursing Leadership in Community Engagement Projects. 51.
https://digitalcommons.spu.edu/shs_nlce/51
Unhealthy Relationships Poster.pdf (637 kB)
Consent Poster.pdf (31 kB)
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