CDC RPE: Prevention Is Everyone’s Responsibility

​Practical Tools for Reducing the Risk of Sexual Violence
When we hear the question, “How can I protect myself from rape or sexual assault?” we may immediately think about personal safety—where we go, who we are with, or whether we are paying attention to our surroundings.
Personal safety is important, but there is something equally important to remember: no person is responsible for someone else choosing to commit sexual violence.
CDC’s Rape Prevention and Education Program takes prevention a step further. Instead of focusing only on what an individual can do to avoid harm, RPE focuses on stopping sexual violence before it begins by strengthening relationships, changing harmful social norms, teaching prevention skills, and creating safer environments. CDC
Sexual violence involves sexual activity when consent is not obtained or freely given. CDC also reminds us that the person causing sexual violence is often someone the survivor knows, such as a friend, current or former partner, coworker, neighbor, or family member. CDC
So what can we do?
Understand and talk about consent. Healthy relationships begin with respect. Consent should be freely given, and everyone has the right to communicate boundaries and have those boundaries respected. Teaching young people and adults about healthy relationships, communication, and healthy sexuality is one of CDC’s recommended prevention approaches. CDC
Be an active bystander. If something does not feel right, we do not have to ignore it. Depending on the situation, we can check in with someone, interrupt an uncomfortable interaction, ask another person for help, or contact someone who can safely intervene. CDC specifically identifies bystander approaches as one strategy for changing social norms that tolerate violence. CDC
Look out for one another. Connection matters. Friends, families, coworkers, coaches, teachers, faith leaders, and community members can help create environments where disrespectful or coercive behavior is not dismissed as “just joking” or “none of our business.”
Create safer spaces—not just safer individuals. CDC recommends improving safety and monitoring in schools, consistently applying workplace policies, and addressing risks in community environments. Prevention becomes stronger when organizations have clear expectations about respectful behavior and take concerns seriously. CDC
Challenge harmful attitudes when we hear them. Jokes that normalize sexual harassment, blaming someone for what happened to them, or treating pressure and coercion as normal relationship behavior can contribute to environments where violence is tolerated. Prevention means helping create social norms built around respect, empathy, equality, and accountability.
Support survivors. When someone shares an experience of sexual violence, listening without judgment and connecting them with appropriate support can reduce further harm. CDC includes victim-centered services and survivor support as an important part of its overall sexual violence prevention framework. CDC
The strongest prevention tool is not fear. It is community.
Sexual violence prevention happens when we teach healthy relationship skills, model respect, speak up when something is wrong, support survivors, and create homes, schools, workplaces, churches, and communities where violence is less likely to happen in the first place.
Prevention belongs to all of us.
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Source: CDC Rape Prevention and Education Program and CDC Sexual Violence Prevention Resource for Action.

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