Newswise — As college students across the country return from winter break, the debate over how to address sexual assaults on campus continues to rage. At UVA, university officials have imposed new rules for parties after allegations of a frat party gang rape were reported (and later retracted in an article in Rolling Stone magazine) that raised questions about the university’s handling of rape reports. Meanwhile, a new study found that 1 in 3 college males would be willing to force a woman to have sex, though many didn’t think that was the same as rape.
Dr. Laura Salazar, associate professor of health promotion and behavior at Georgia State University’s School of Public Health, has studied the attitudes of college students around sexual relations and sex assault, examining the causes and potential solutions.
She has developed a web-based training program proven to reduce the likelihood that college-age men will be involved in sexual assaults, and to raise the odds that they will intervene to stop a potential assault. “It’s focused on helping them not get in trouble, helping them communicate with their sexual partners and teaching them skills to intervene,” Salazar said. “It’s not focused on ‘men are rapists.’” Part of the problem, Salazar said, is that many young men honestly don’t understand what constitutes consent. Web-based programs can be a cost-effective way to educate large numbers of students.
For more about Dr. Salazar, visit http://publichealth.gsu.edu/profile/laura-salazar/.
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