Project ENVISION

Phases of the Project

Because the Alliance grounds all of its work in research, our prevention project began with a year of laying the groundwork. This included familiarizing ourselves and rape crisis programs with primary prevention and community mobilization and led to conducting rapid assessments in eleven communities throughout NYC where participating rape crisis programs have a presence. The Alliance believes that communities are in different stages of readiness for primary prevention. Community readiness is the degree to which a community is prepared to take action on a particular health or social issue (Oetting, et al, 1995). Interventions must be challenging enough to move a community forward, but efforts that are too ambitious are likely to fail because community members will not be able to respond (Plested, et al., 2005).

Based on the data from the community readiness assessments from 18 communities, and agreed-upon criteria (including the need for varied geographic location and demographic profiles), the Alliance and the 11 rape crisis programs selected three sites to implement prevention projects:

1. Lower East Side, Manhattan
2. South Bronx
3. Williamsburg, Brooklyn

In June 2008, the rape crisis programs leading this project were divided into three teams, each of which mobilized community members in the three selected communities. The Alliance provided training and technical assistance to the rape crisis programs as they engaged in this work. 2009 has been focused on identifying key stakeholders (policy makers, organizations, community leaders, and members) who share a common interest in ending sexual violence, building a community coalition among these leaders, and partnering with community members to assess their needs regarding sexual violence prevention.

In 2009, the New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault, in conjunction with community stakeholders, conducted action-research on sexual violence prevention in three communities: the Lower East Side, Manhattan; the South Bronx; and Williamsburg, Brooklyn. In each community, a coalition comprised of local service providers, rape crisis advocates, community members and activists, is using the data to develop effective solutions for preventing sexual violence in their community.

To read about the results of the needs assessments, click here.
 

For more information, contact the ENVISION project lead at envision@svfreenyc.org.

Download and read about the findings from our community-based research on sexual violence prevention in the three Project ENVISION communities here.

The Rape Crisis Programs leading the community coalitions for Project ENVISION are:

1. Lower East Side, Manhattan
Bellevue Hospital Rape Crisis Program
Beth Israel Hospital Rape Crisis Program
Mt. Sinai Adolescent Health Center
Safe Horizon

2. South Bronx
Bronx District Attorney’s Office, Crime Victims Unit
Kingsbridge Heights Community Center
Mt. Sinai Sexual Assault and Violence Intervention Program
New York Presbyterian Hospital Domestic and Other Violence Emergencies Program
St. Luke’s Crime Victim’s Treatment Center
Safe Horizon

3. Williamsburg, Brooklyn
St. Vincent’s Hospital Rape Crisis Program
Safe Horizon
Wyckoff Heights Medical Center

What is Primary Prevention?

To date, no organization in New York City has dedicated resources to executing strategic steps to prevent sexual violence. Many agencies in the city have dedicated time and money to provide much-needed services to survivors of sexual violence. However, very little attention has been paid to stopping the tens of thousands of sexual assaults that occur in NYC each year—before they happen. The NYC Alliance recognizes that in order to reduce the incidence of sexual violence, resources must be devoted to addressing the root causes of sexual violence. This is referred to as primary prevention—primary because it addresses a problem before it occurs.

We have learned from the little work that has been done in the field of primary prevention that we cannot successfully end sexual violence by focusing solely on changing individual behavior. To be effective, primary prevention must address the environmental factors that shape and mediate behavior that leads to sexual violence. We must also effect change at multiple levels and across disciplines and sectors. The Alliance has adopted Participatory Action Research (PAR) as the way of reaching out to communities and creating new partnerships to work collectively towards ending sexual violence in New York City. To guide the prevention work that we carry out in New York City, the Alliance has developed a prevention framework, rooted in theory and based on research and practice. The framework outlines our guiding principles, strategies, and methods for addressing and changing the social norms that promote and permit sexual violence. Learn more about our prevention framework »

Prevention Resources

A variety of prevention resources can be found here.

Rape Crisis Training Institute

The Alliance established the Rape Crisis Training Institute (RCTI) in 2002. For six years, the RCTI has offered training to service providers working in the field of sexual violence, providing professionals with the opportunity to receive the most up-to-date and cutting-edge information on sexual violence intervention. This has included training on the clinical care of survivors, and more recently, on strategies and approaches for primary prevention.

Our training methods draw upon principles of adult-learning and utilize train-the-trainer concepts. Thus, NYC’s rape crisis program staff who have participated in RCTIs have utilized the knowledge and skills they gained through RCTI sessions to train their staff, other service providers, and community members. Read more »