Preventing sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking
Sexual violence is never the fault of the victim. Research suggests that effective strategies to prevent sexual violence address the root causes and social norms that allow sexual violence to occur. The UC Berkeley PATH to Care Center is a campus leader for primary prevention initiatives, including peer-to-peer education.
Consent education
A common misconception about sexual assault is that most incidents are perpetrated by a stranger. In reality, most reported rapes were perpetrated by someone the victim/survivor knew. Survivors are more likely to report incidents perpetrated by a stranger. This contributes to underreporting of sexual assault incidents.
This statistic confirms that consent education is a key component of preventing sexual assault. According to the UC SVSH Policy, consent is affirmative, conscious, voluntary, and revocable. It is the responsibility of each person to ensure they have the affirmative consent of the other to engage in the sexual activity. Lack of protest, lack of resistance, or silence do not, alone, constitute consent.
Bystander intervention
Bystander intervention is when people take action to address a potentially harmful situation. The CARE Model equips members with methods of intervention. Active bystander intervention can stop harm before it happens, prevent the recurrence of harm, support those impacted by harm, and models healthy social norms for other people.
