Prevention Education Offerings and Resources
- Raise awareness and teach skills related to consent, bystander intervention, rape culture, sexual harassment, stalking and relationship violence.
- Address culture and climate to create a safer and more inclusive campus community.
- Partner with the Sexual Assault Deans on Call and strengthen relationships with other campus partners to provide vetted referrals to on-campus and off-campus services for survivors as well as friends, family members and significant others.
Below is a list of current offerings. Prevention Education and Outreach also will consult on additional offerings.
Tailored Workshops
…including on Preventing Sexual Assault, Preventing Intimate Partner Violence, Stalking Prevention, Bystander Intervention, Lab Culture & Climate and Field Safety Considerations. Request a workshop online.
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Workshop: Bystander Intervention
A bystander, or witness, is someone who sees a situation, but may not know what to do, may think others will act, or may be afraid to step up. Bystander education programs teach potential witnesses safe and positive ways they can act to prevent or intervene when there is risk for sexual or relationship violence.
At the University of Chicago, we utilize Bringing in the Bystander. This is a nationally recognized evidence-based program to increase participant’s knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors about effective responses to sexual misconduct. Bringing in the Bystander is highly interactive and uses a community responsibility approach that teaches bystanders how to safely intervene in instances where sexual violence may be occurring or where there may be risk that it will occur. This program helps participants build the skills to safely intervene when appropriate. Those skills would be transferable to other concerning situations, including alcohol, drugs, mental health, other forms of discriminatory harassment, etc.
To request this or any other educational session, please Request a Workshop or Consult. For additional questions/concerns about this program, please contact Vickie Sides, Director of Prevention Education & Outreach, at vsides@uchicago.edu.
Prevention Education and Outreach Toolkit
The Prevention Education and Outreach Toolkit will also include specific outreach initiatives and enhanced resources to address those disparities, in an effort to engender trust in mechanisms for reporting and will also prompt leaders to consider the contexts in which students experience sexual harassment within their departments or areas.
Office Hours
Invite members of Prevention Education & Outreach and the UChicago CARES team to host office hours for members of your community.
Collaboration
…with other units providing complementary educational resources.
Individualized Educational Sessions
“Preventing sexual misconduct starts with education that shifts the paradigms and norms we have about sex, relationships, and bodily autonomy” (Laura McGuire). Discussions of consent, sexual agency and cultivating healthy relationships, as well as creating real awareness of what behaviors are problematic and why, is the core of individualized educational sessions. The curriculum for these sessions are designed in consultation with the referring party and after an initial assessment with the person. Sessions are 4-8 weeks and the curriculum addresses the specific needs of the person participating.
Safety Planning
A safety plan is a thoughtful plan of actions that can lower your risk of being hurt by a current or ex partner or a person from whom you are or have experienced sexual assault or stalking. It includes information specific to you and your life that will increase your safety at school, home, and other places that you go on a daily basis. We can work with you to develop a plan for identifying safe people and places, essential items to take should one need or decide to leave a situation and information about local resources, among other things.
To learn more, contact Vickie Sides, Director of Prevention Education and Outreach, at vsides@uchicago.edu or Request a Workshop or Consult.