• Individual risk factors for perpetration include: Alcohol and drug use, coercive sexual fantasies, impulsive and antisocial tendencies, preference for impersonal sex, hostility towards women, hyper masculinity, childhood history of sexual and physical abuse, witnessed family violence as a child
• Relationship risk factors for perpetration include: Association with sexually aggressive and delinquent peers, family environment characterized by physical violence and few resources, strong patriarchal relationship or familial environment, emotionally unsupportive familial environment
• Community risk factors for perpetration include: lack of employment opportunities, lack of institutional support from police or judicial system, general tolerance of sexual violence within the community, and weak community sanctions against sexual violence perpetrators
• Societal risk factors for perpetration include: poverty, societal norms that support sexual violence, societal norms that support male superiority and sexual entitlement, societal norms that maintain women's inferiority and sexual submissiveness, weak laws related to gender equity, and high tolerance levels of crime and other forms of violence

Source: Sexual violence: Prevention strategies. (2009). Retrieved March 6, 2010 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Website: http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/sexualviolence/prevention.html.

• The American Marketing Association defines advertising as "Advertising is defined as any paid form of non-personal communication about an organization, product, service, or idea by an identified sponsor."


• Another definition defines advertising almost as propaganda. Tillinghast (2001) defines advertising as occupying a specific spectrum of marketing media and specifically the ones that involve media owners selling "inventory" to advertisers who use that to spread specific messages.


• Americans on average view 3,000 advertisements per day and the average human being will spend three years of their life watching advertisements (Sedeno, 2006).


• With the saturation of advertising in our society it is difficult to understand how people feel advertising has no effect on them.


• The societal risk factors for sexual assault are affected advertising. Societal norms that support male superiority and sexual entitlement and maintain women's inferiority and sexual submissiveness are often portrayed in advertising.


• Additionally, societal norms that support sexual violence is often portrayed in advertising. Intervening at the societal level and particularly among youth would be effective because it would change the fundamental belief systems that allows for sexual assault.


• As a society, we must work to change these norms and attitudes and promote advertising images that portray positive images and role models.

Sources: Tillinghast, T. (2001). Defining differences: Marketing, advertising, and branding (Part I). Retrieved March 30, 2010 from the clickz.com Website: http://www.clickz.com/863271.
Sedeno, A. (2006). Viewing guide for killing us softly. Retrieved from the Trinity University Website: http://www.trinity.edu/adelwich/documentary/comm3325.viewing.guide.alexandra.sedeno.pdf.
Defining advertising concept. Retrieved March 30, 2010 from Website: http://drypen.in/advertising/defining-advertising-concept.html.
Killing us softly 3: Advertising's image of women. Retrieved May 10, 2010 from the Youtube website: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FpyGwP3yzE

Image from Aurora Center, 2006

Here it looks as if this woman may be gang-raped. Of course advertisements like this do not make someone go out and rape someone else, but because our society is saturated with images like this it becomes a part of reality and part of "that is just the way things are and no big deal" (Aurora Center, 2006). Jean Kilbourne, author, speaker and filmmaker on the effects of advertising states that, "Everyone in America feels personally exempt from the influence of advertising. So wherever I go what I hear more than anything else is, 'I don't pay attention to ads, I just tune them out. They have no affect on me.' I hear this most often from people wearing Gap tee-shirts or Budweiser baseball caps."

Sources: The Green M&M Project (2006). The Aurora Center for Advocacy and Education, University of Minnesota.
Aurora Center Website: http://www1.umn.edu/aurora/
Killing us softly 3: Advertising's image of women. Retrieved May 10, 2010 from the Youtube website: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FpyGwP3yzE

Image from Aurora Center, 2006

Even worse is the portrayal of youth in advertising. Youth often appear passive, weak and ready for sex. This can blur the line between real sex and fantasy sex and make real sex seem confusing (Aurora Center, 2006).

Source: The Green M&M Project (2006). The Aurora Center for Advocacy and Education, University of Minnesota.
Aurora Center Website: http://www1.umn.edu/aurora/

Image from Aurora Center, 2006

The portrayal of men in advertising is very stereotypical. They are often portrayed as ultra masculine and as if their only motivation is to get sex. These stereotypes seem to imply that men do not have emotional capability and that all they want is sex (Aurora Center, 2006).

Source: The Green M&M Project (2006). The Aurora Center for Advocacy and Education, University of Minnesota.
Aurora Center Website: http://www1.umn.edu/aurora/

Image from Aurora Center, 2006

Additionally, men are often portrayed as "dominant, powerful, in control [or] as violent and angry" (Aurora Center, 2006). Furthermore, they often appear to have control over women and this control is often normalized or portrayed as sexy. These kinds of advertisements and their messages normalize men's violence against women (Aurora Center, 2006).

Source: The Green M&M Project (2006). The Aurora Center for Advocacy and Education, University of Minnesota.
Aurora Center Website: http://www1.umn.edu/aurora/

Jackson Katz, one of America's leading anti-sexist male activists discusses the effect that rigid male gender roles have on our society in his film "Tough Guise." Besides putting on a front of toughness, this tough guise can lead to violence and sexual assault. Jackson Katz urges men and women to confront these gender roles and eradicate them which would lead to a healthier society. Click the link below to see a short clip from "Tough Guise."

• Possible physical effects of SA on the victim include: pain; injuries; nausea; vomiting and headaches.
• Possible psychological effects on the victim include: "shock/denial; irritability/anger; depression; social withdrawal; numbing/apathy (detachment, loss of caring); restricted affect (reduced ability to express emotions); nightmares/flashbacks; difficulty concentrating; diminished interest in activities or sex; loss of self-esteem; loss of security/loss of trust in others; guilt/shame/embarrassment; impaired memory; loss of appetite; suicidal ideation (thoughts of suicide and death); substance abuse; and psychological disorders" (National Center for Victims of Crime.
• Possible physiological effects on the victim include: "hypervigilance (always being "on your guard"); insomnia; exaggerated startle response (jumpiness); panic attacks; eating problems/disorders; self-mutilation (cutting, burning or otherwise hurting oneself); sexual dysfunction (not being able to perform sexual acts); hyperarousal (exaggerated feelings/responses to stimuli)" (National Center for Victims of Crime.
• In addition to these effects, a survivor of sexual assault may develop rape-related posttraumatic stress disorder

Statistically, victims of sexual assault are:

• 3 times more likely to suffer from depression
• 6 times more likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder
• 13 times more likely to abuse alcohol
• 26 times more likely to abuse drugs
• 4 times more likely to contemplate suicide.

Sources: Rape-related posttraumatic stress disorder (1992). Retrieved March 20, 2010 from the National Center for Victims of Crime Website:
http://www.ncvc.org/ncvc/main.aspx?dbName=DocumentViewer&DocumentID=32366.
Statistics. Retrieved March 6, 2010 from the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network Website: http://www.rainn.org/statistics.

When reporting, a victim can either call the police or visit a hospital emergency department or their doctor (who can call the police for them). At the emergency department if an assault is reported, the hospital will generally perform a SA forensic examination which involves collecting evidence to secure in the event of a trial. Collection procedures involve collecting hairs, fibers, fluids, and preserving evidence.

Collection of evidence does not mean a trial will take place, but rather gathers the evidence in the event of a prosecution. There is no timeframe for a victim to report an assault, but the sooner the report the better as evidence collection is more effective. While the district attorney has the power to decide whether to prosecute, it is unusual for cases to proceed without the cooperation of the victim. A trained volunteer from a local rape crisis center can often accompany a victim through police interviews, evidence collection, and if necessary through the trial process for support.

Source: Reporting Rape. Retrieved March 6, 2010 from the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network Website: http://www.rainn.org/print/247.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2009) states the following for prevention of sexual violence: The most common prevention strategies currently focus on the victim, the perpetrator, or bystanders. Strategies that aim to equip the victim with knowledge, awareness, or self-defense skills are referred to as risk reduction techniques. Strategies targeting the perpetrator attempt to change risk and protective factors for sexual violence in order to reduce the likelihood that an individual will engage in sexually violent behavior. The goal of bystander prevention strategies is to change social norms supporting sexual violence and empower men and women to intervene with peers to prevent an assault from occurring.

Other prevention strategies could include: targeting social norms, policies, or laws nationally to reduce the perpetration of sexual violence across the population.

Another initiative is the annual "Take Back the Night" walk which was created globally to fight sexual violence. Each year women and men walk together at night to fight against the fear women have of walking alone at night (takebackthenight.org).

The State Role

Minnesota has developed strategies to prevent and control SA that are comprehensive and focus on the underlying fundamental causes of SA. The Minnesota Department of Health has created a five year prevention plan for sexual violence which includes: defining the problem, identify risk and protective factors, develop and test prevention strategies, and assure widespread adoption. A major focus of this plan is to counteract norms, values or belief systems that contribute to sexual violence such as: oppression of women, tolerance of aggression and attribution of blame to victims, unhealthy constructs of manhood (including domination and control), making it "normal" to commodify or objectify children in sexual ways, a value placed on claiming and maintaining power, and notions of individual and family privacy that foster secrecy and silence.

To counteract the norms we must: change the culture that encourages exploitation and sexual objectification of people of any age and gender, decrease the demand for harmful sexual content of pornography, which is trending toward younger victims and more violence, encourage local and state policymakers to ensure that the workplace is safe respectful, change organizational practices that are harmful to relationships, and to break the silence surrounding the problem of sexual violence (Minnesota Department Health, 2009).

Other potential strategies to control SA could be harsher state penalties for perpetrator's that include longer prison sentences and also mandatory treatment and skills training after release.

The Local and Community Role

One large local community initiative to prevent and control SA includes that annual Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) each April.

The goal of SAAM is to change institutional policies and practices that support behaviors we encounter daily and to change the cultural norms so that SA is not expected, accepted or tolerated. SAAM brings programs together to make a loud and unified statement that the current status of women and children in our society is no longer acceptable (Aurora Center, 2010). Collaborators on this event include the University of Minnesota's Aurora Center, the Minnesota Coalition against Sexual Assault, and others.

Other potential strategies for prevention and control of SA could include universities and colleges collaborating on events and awareness events to eradicate SA on college campuses in Minnesota communities.

Sources: SAAM (Sexual assault awareness month). Retrieved March 20, 2010 from the Aurora Center Website: http://www1.umn.edu/aurora/events/saam.html.
Sexual violence: Prevention strategies. (2009). Retrieved March 6, 2010 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Website: http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/sexualviolence/prevention.html.
The promise of primary prevention of sexual violence: A five-year plan to prevention sexual violence and exploitation in Minnesota (2009). Retrieved March 6, 2010 from the Minnesota Department Health Website:
http://www.health.state.mn.us/injury/pub/svpplan.pdf.
A history of take back the night. Retrieved March 20, 2010 from the Take Back the Night
Organization Website: http://www.takebackthenight.org/history.html.

The Haddon Matrix placed injury control within the public health framework in which health problems are conceptualized to result from interactions among the host (victim of injury), agent (vehicle with which injury is delivered) and the environment (physical and social location within which injury occurs).

The Haddon models have become extremely useful tools in public health and can be used to understand SA from the perspective of risk factor identification and to devise a diverse array of prevention strategies (Runyan, 2003). Below are the operationalizations of the Haddon Matrix strategies.

PRE-INJURY STRATEGIES

Pre-injury Phase ----> Human Strategies:
Mental health status
Physical health status
Self-esteem and self-identity
Alcohol or drug use by victim

Pre-injury Phase ----> Vehicles and Equipment Strategies:
Availability of weapons
Physical health status of perpetrator of violence
Alcohol or drug use by perpetrator
Media messages that promote negative or untrue messages such as: women really mean yes when they say no or that sex is always available and men should always be trying to get it

Pre-injury Phase ----> Physical Environment Strategies:
Physical location where violence occurs - Ex: dark alley without lighting

Pre-injury Phrase ----> Socio-Economic Environment Strategies:
Exposure to SA in past
Cultural and societal attitudes towards SA and violence
Societal norms that support male superiority or sexual entitlement
Presence of community-watch or other interventions

Injury Phase ----> Human Strategies:
Self-defense strategies
Physical health of victim

Injury Phase ----> Vehicles and Equipment Strategies:
Physical health status of perpetrator
Type of SA may determine extent of injuries

Injury Phase ----> Physical Environment Strategies:
Physical location where violence occurs - Ex: dark alley without lighting may determine extent of injury and length of assault

Injury Phrase ----> Socio-Economic Environment Strategies:
Societal attitudes towards intervening during a violent event

POST-INJURY STRATEGIES

Post-injury Phase ----> Human Strategies:
Ability to summon help when injuries occur
Presence of others to summon help
Victims knowledge of medical care to care for themselves

Post-injury Phase ----> Vehicles and Equipment Strategies:
Availability of medical help or supplies to ensure injury is minimized

Post-injury Phase ----> Physical Environment
Proximity of healthcare facilities or help (physical or emotional)
Availability of transportation to reach help

Post-injury Phrase ----> Socio-Economic Environment Strategies:
Medical professional training and knowledge of sexual violence (for example presence of a SA nurse examiner)

This strategy uses education to change social norms. Focus energy on changing societal norms about hypermasculinity, male superiority and sexual entitlement. Start at a young age to promote positive healthy relationships and teach our young that sexual violence is never okay under any circumstances. Also focus energy on girls to increase their self-esteem and find positive role models that do not demonstrate female inferiority and sexual submissiveness. Teach accurate information and healthy sexuality in schools with a sex positive curriculum that does not shame sex or twist information and research. Eliminate negative media messages that promote these harmful messages and promote positive media images.

2) Reduce the amount of the hazard brought into being.

Identify high risk individuals or potentially violent offenders and intervene with skills to manage anger and promote healthy outlets.

3) Prevent the release of the hazard that already exists.

Promote neighborhood-watch programs or other community awareness programs that keep watch for possible SA events or other warning signs and communicate with law enforcement to intervene quickly. Also again intervene in high-risk groups or individuals to teach anger management skills and promote healthy outlets to avoid offending.

4) Modify the rate or spatial distribution of release of the hazard from its source.

Increase the penalties for SA such as increasing the prison sentence. Additionally, higher-quality and mandatory rehabilitation programs could help to reduce recidivism.

Increase penalties for offenders to require longer prison sentences and promote reporting the event to increase restraining orders and other deterrents after an assault violence event has occurred.

6) Separate the hazard and that which is to be protected by interposition of a material barrier.

Increase the prevalence of women's shelters and other safe housing with security to decrease chances of another assault. Prior to an assault increase presence of safe spaces for potential victims such as increased frequency of skyways or security on buildings to separate a potential victim from an offender.

7) Modify basic relevant qualities of the hazard.

Mandate counseling programs that identify violent tendencies and modify those tendencies with skills and attitude change training. Also use education that teaches about healthy relationships in high-risk populations such on college campuses.

8) Make what is to be protected more resistant to damage from the hazard.

Promote self-defense classes among women and high-risk populations to protect themselves during a violence event. Teach skills to reason with an attacker which may decrease the damage done during or after an attack. These messages should be framed in a way that does not make women feel they "deserved an attack" if they choose not to take part in self-defense classes.

9) Begin to counter the damage already done by the environmental hazard.

Increase number of healthcare facilities and create transportation-aid programs to allow victims to quickly and effectively reach help after a violent event. Additionally, create environments less conducive to an attack such as increasing street lighting in dark areas and increase presence of security in places where an attack has occurred or may be likely to occur.

10) Stabilize, repair, and rehabilitate the object of the damage.

Increase prevalence of support groups to provide emotional rehabilitation to victim. Additionally, provide free or low-cost counseling to victims to promote positive self-identity and self-esteem which would decrease likelihood of another assault.

While women are overwhelmingly the victims of sexual assault, perhaps more data could be gathered on the extent of male victimization to obtain a larger picture of sexual assault among males.

Additionally, research is needed on the relationship between sexual assault and advertising to determine the strength of this correlation. There is a lack of empirical research on the relationship between the two and if this link was demonstrated empirically it is more likely that resources would be allocated to prevention and control efforts. Additionally, a demonstrated empirical link could allow for policy changes to eradicate negative and unhealthy media messages surrounding sex and gender roles.