Rape Prevention and Education Grant Project

El Programa Hispano Católico is located in the Portland area. EPHC’s mission is to “advance racial equity and social justice through the power of our Latinx roots, culture, and community,” and the agency has provided culturally-specific services to this historically-underserved population for more than 35 years. All staff members are bilingual/bicultural and the majority identify as Latinx and/or immigrants. EPHC’s prevention program embodies the social and racial justice values of their parent organization and it’s commitment to provide all services as culturally specific.

They deliver a culturally specific violence prevention and healthy relationships program called PAS, to Latinx students and families in Multnomah, Clackamas, and Washington counties. PAS (Prevencion de Agresion Sexual) uses a specially-developed curriculum that capitalizes on the Latinx community’s cultural strengths (family, community, and supporting one another through hardships).

It addresses participants on an individual level through nine sessions covering key prevention topics. It also engages youth more deeply with their community and culture through field trips and arts/activism projects. Finally, parents/guardians work together to identify a gap in knowledge/support within the school community and develop/implement a campaign to address that gap. Using these strategies, the program aims to increase participants’ knowledge of anti-violence strategies, and to strengthen positive behaviors and cultural norms that already exist within the communities and individuals they serve.

EPHC’s different prevention strategies are woven together through a culturally specific lens that views anti-oppression work as essential to the prevention of violence. By offering culturally specific programming to parents, youth and community members, as well as culturally competent trainings to professionals, PAS ensures that prevention is relevant and realistic. All our strategies strengthen cultural connection while dismantling oppressive and violent norms through curricula that contextualize prevention work in an antiracist, anti-colonial context. For more information about EPHC’s Prevention Program, check out this EPHC Spotlight!

HAVEN is located in The Dalles and serves Wasco, Wheeler, Gilliam, and Sherman Counties.

The HAVEN prevention program is an initiative to address violence in their communities with the hope that one day we will have prevented violence from ever happening in the first place.

Their goal is to promote the creation and retention of healthy relationships, collaborate with their community to learn more about the signs of abuse, provide safe and welcoming space for the often difficult conversations around various forms of violence, and encourage survivors in their healing, ultimately creating safer communities for all people.

They work towards affecting this change by providing training, education, outreach, and technical assistance for school staff, local partners, and the broader community; an in-house curriculum formulated to equip K-12 students, community college students, and other participants to prevent violence in their communities and promote healthy relationships; support for high school students as they learn and raise awareness about violence and healthy relationships through participation in Troupe, their peer education group; training and technical assistance for local K-12 and higher education institutions; and Summit, an annual, one-day conference where youth identify, explore, and take action around the root causes of violence in order to promote positive relationships in their communities.

They also aim to increase community access to equitable and inclusive social services throughout the area by supporting the implementation and strengthening of trauma-informed policies (such as Title IX); providing technical assistance to administration and staff of schools, social service agencies, and other groups in rural and underserved communities; providing educational opportunities for families and other safe adults who engage with youth; and engaging community members in conversation and action related to creating safer communities.

For more information about HAVEN’s Prevention Program, check out this HAVEN Spotlight! and check out the episode on HAVEN’s prevention work in SATF’s Exploring Prevention Audio Library.

The Harbor serves Clatsop County, Oregon’s northernmost coastal communities.

They provide advocacy, prevention and support to promote self-determination and hope for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking.

Self Enhancement Inc. (SEI), is comprehensive, one-stop resource for youth and families, primarily African Americans and others living in poverty or seeking culturally responsive services .

SEI is also one of the city’s leading multi-service organizations, providing thousands of youth, families, and adults with a wide array of education and social service on an annual basis.

SEI’s strength is in its ability to meet the complex needs of the children and families it serves, including helping people to overcome cultural, educational and economic barriers.

WCST is a domestic and sexual violence organization serving Josephine County.

Their prevention program builds skills necessary to develop healthy and equitable relationships, safely interrupt behavior such as sexist and homophobic harassment, and appropriately address social norms supportive of sexual violence. WCST’s WINGS (Where Individuals Navigate Growth and Safety) Prevention Program has three educational tiers.

-The first tier is WINGS 1 (Freshman Success) which is currently once weekly in health classes in Middle and High Schools. Freshman Success is held for 7 weeks at the middle schools and 16 weeks at the high schools.

-The second tier, WCST’s WINGS 2 classes is a voluntary class that provides deeper instruction into the topics surrounding violence prevention and bystander intervention. The class is implemented in high schools, and lasts all school year on a once weekly basis, which is usually 32 weeks.

-The third tier, WINGS 3 (Action Team and Mentors), provides students the opportunity to take what they have learned in WINGS 1 and 2 and teach others. They are presented mentorship and service opportunities as well as opportunities to develop their own action campaigns surrounding domestic and sexual violence prevention.

In addition to their school-day prevention work, WCST also hosts after-school activities usually one afternoon per week for grades 8-12.

WCST WINGS education strategies focus on high school age youth for a number of reasons. Primarily, when youth enter high school, adolescents face increased social, emotional, and educational challenges. At the same time, they may be exposed to greater availability of alcohol and illegal substances, bullying, increased sexual pressures, and unhealthy social activities.

These challenges can increase the risk of both perpetration and victimization of sexual violence. Implementation of a high school violence prevention program allows WCST to engage the greatest number of individuals in reducing risk factors and promoting protective factors to reduce sexual violence. WCST’s school based prevention education program supports increased commitment to school, involvement in healthy social activities, and supportive connections to adults outside the family. WINGS education also increases empathy and a propensity for more prosocial attitudes and behaviors.

Ultimately, complete success of WCST’s prevention program would eventually result in the closure of DV/SA agencies such as WCST. There would no longer be a need for these agencies. We would have safe, healthy, educated communities that were unaccepting of violence.

For more information about WCST’s Prevention Program, check out this WCST Spotlight in the Exploring Prevention Audio Library!