Safe Dates
Problems addressed
Violence against women
Sexual violence
Juvenile delinquency
Interpersonal violence or injuries
Effectiveness

Promising

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Promising

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Life periods served
Teenagers (14 to 17 years)
Where the program was applied
Education establishment
Country of application
United States
Description

This is a school and community program to prevent intimate partner violence, involving primary and secondary school students. School activities are carried out through ten sessions lasting 45-50 minutes each and involve theater production and a poster competition with messages about dating violence and ways to seek help.
There are also booster sessions that take place three years after the intervention. Community activities promote secondary prevention in order to change beliefs about the need for help and promote awareness about using services and seeking help for victims and perpetrators of peer violence.

Impact evaluations

An impact evaluation showed that, after one month of the program, there was a 25% reduction in psychological aggression; 60% in sexual violence; and 60% in violence perpetrated against the current intimate partner [1].
After the one-year follow-up period, there was a 12% reduction in victimization by violence between couples; 23% in violence perpetrated by peers; 31% less likelihood of taking a weapon to school [1].
After the four-year follow-up period, the figure reached 56%, with 92% fewer reports of physical violence, severe physical violence, and perpetrated sexual violence and victimization [1].

Bibliographic reference

[1] Foshee, V. A., Bauman, K. E., Arriaga, X. B., Helms, R. W., Koch, G. G., & Linder, G. F. (1998). An evaluation of Safe Dates, an adolescent dating violence prevention program. American Journal of Public Health, 88, 45-50.

[2] Foshee, V. A., Bauman, K. E., Ennett, S. T., Suchindran, C., Benefield, T., & Linder, G. F. (2005). Assessing the effects of dating violence prevention program "Safe Dates" using random coefficient regression modeling. Prevention Science, 6(3), 245-257.

[3] Foshee, V. A., Benefield, T. S., Ennett, S. T., Bauman, K. E., & Suchindran, C. (2004). Longitudinal predictors of serious physical and sexual dating violence victimization during adolescence. Preventive Medicine, 39, 1007-1016.

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