How does Prevention work?

Comprehensive Prevention Across New Hampshire
The services and programs of NHCADSV and the 12 member programs contribute to our vision for comprehensive prevention domestic and sexual violence in New Hampshire. This model is based off of the Spectrum of Prevention, and the Centers for Disease Control Stop SV and the CDC Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Technical Packages.

Primary prevention includes strategies that aim to prevent violence before it starts. These programs focus on increasing the protective factors that prevent violence and reducing the risk factors that increase the likelihood of violence occurring. Primary prevention aims to increase protective factors like empathy, gender equity, family and school connectedness, consent skills, and emotional health.

Programs also target risk factors like harmful attitudes that support oppression of women and girls, toxic masculinity and other harmful gender stereotypes, lack of non-violent problem solving skills, and exposure to sexually-explicit and violent media.

Prevention of Domestic and sexual violence in NH

EDUCATION FOR YOUTH, PARENTS, & COMMUNITIES

Respect and empathy
Consent skills
Bystander Intervention
Challenging gender stereotypes
Healthy sexual development
Safety & asking for help
Bullying prevention
Media literacy
Intersections of oppression
Healthy dating and relationship skills

RESOURCES & COLLABORATION OF SERVICES

Services for victims of DV and SV
School policies promoting gender equity, accountability of perpetrators, and support for victims
Training for teachers, coaches, youth-service orgs, and medical community on trauma-informed services
Collaboration with subtance misuse, mental health, and medical community
Treatment for at-risk children and families

SYSTEMS, POLICY, & SOCIETAL NORMS

Policy/legislation that supports prevention, victim services, and public health
Support of law enforcement & judicial system
Media advocacy
Gender equity throughout society
Commitment to Social Justice and anti-oppression
Economic supports/financial empowerment

Prevention in your town

Reach out to your local member program crisis center for individualized technical assistance and prevention programming

• Free school and community education programs, supported in part by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Rape Prevention Education Program.
• Age-appropriate, aligned with DOE curriculum requirements, research-informed programs, tailored to the needs of your school and community.
• Staff expertise in handling disclosures and linking students, parents, teachers, and community members to support and services.
• In 2016, crisis center staff presented at 300 schools, colleges, churches, hospitals, law enforcement agencies, and other community organizations.

find your local crisis center

Get involved!

Granite State Respect Week

Prevention Policy

In 2015, the Commission to Study Sexual Abuse Prevention Education in Elementary and Secondary Schools (SAPE) was tasked under Chapter 143 of 2014 with producing a report and recommendations from its study of sexual abuse prevention education in New Hampshire’s K - 12 schools. Members of the New Hampshire Legislature, the Sexual Violence Prevention Advisory Committee (SVPAC), the New Hampshire Department of Education, the New Hampshire Department of Human Services, teachers, parents, and allied local and statewide organizations have collaborated to move forward sexual abuse prevention education research and recommendations for the administration, and identifying resources and best practices in the state’s K - 12 schools.

The resulting recommendations launched an initiative to ensure that child sexual abuse was clearly outlined in the requirements for prevention education in New Hampshire schools. In 2016, SB460 was passed, and the SVPAC has been presenting to school administration and teachers about the change to the law. In addition to adjusting the state law, the SVPAC has created a set of resources for teachers and school staff to use in integrating sexual violence preventions strategies into their work:

Create an account on the NH InspirED Network and find resources on policies, best practices, and prevention strategies: http://nh.getinspired.2revolutions.net/groups/10292
Group Name: Child Sexual Abuse & Youth Sexual Violence: Prevention and Response.

The NH Sexual Violence Prevention Advisory Committee

The NH Sexual Violence Prevention Advisory Committee (SVPAC) is a group of advocates, educators, researchers, and service providers committed to ending sexual violence in New Hampshire through policy advocacy, technical assistance to schools and communities, and statewide strategic planning. The group includes representatives from the NH Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, Department of Education, Department of Health and Human Services, local crisis centers, the The Granite State Children’s Alliance, researchers in the field, and school educators.

Stay tuned for the 2019-2023 NH Sexual and Domestic Violence Prevention Plan, in development in 2018 by the NH SVPAC*