• Primary Prevention:

  Approaches that take place before sexual violence has occurred to prevent initial perpetration or victimization; Approaches that are aimed at groups or the general population regardless of individual risk for sexual violence perpetration or victimization.

• Secondary Prevention:

  An immediate response after sexual violence has occurred to deal with the short-term consequences of violence; Approaches that are aimed at those who are thought to have a heightened risk for sexual violence perpetration or victimization.

• Tertiary Prevention:

  A long-term response after sexual violence has occurred to deal with the lasting consequences of violence and sex offender treatment interventions; Approaches that are aimed at those who have already perpetrated sexual violence or have been victimized.

• Individual-level Influences

  are biological and include personal history factors that increase the likelihood that an individual will become a victim or a perpetrator of violence. For example, factors such as alcohol and/or drug use; attitudes and beliefs that support sexual violence, impulsive and other anti-social tendencies; preference for impersonal sex; hostility towards women; childhood history of sexual abuse or witnessing family violence may influence an individual's behavior choices that lead to perpetration of sexual violence (Dahlberg and Krug 2002). Interventions for individual-level influences are often resigned to target social and cognitive skills and behaviors. Interventions and/or activities include approaches such as counseling, therapy, and educational training sessions.

• Relationship-level Influences

  are factors that increase risk as a result of relationships with peers, intimate partners, and family members. A person's closest social circle-peers, partners, and family members - can shape the individual's behavior and range of experiences (Dahlberg and Krug 2002). Interventions for interpersonal relationship-level influences could include family therapy, bystander intervention skill development and training for adults on how to talk to children about personal safety.

• Community-level Influences

  are factors that increase risk based on community and social environment and include an individual's experiences and relationships with schools, workplaces, and neighborhoods. For example, a lack of bullying and harassment policies in the school can send a message to students that bullying and harassment are tolerated, and that there may be few or no consequences for those who harass others. Interventions for community-level influences are typically designed to impact the climate, systems, and policies in a given setting.

• Societal -level Influences

  are larger, macro-level factors that influence sexual violence such as gender inequality, religious or cultural belief systems, societal norms, and economic or social policies that create or sustain gaps or tensions between groups of people. For example, rape is more common in cultures that promote male sexual entitlement and support an ideology of male superiority (Dahlberg and Krug 2002). Interventions for societal-level influences typically involve collaborations by multiple partners to change laws and policies related to sexual violence or gender inequality. Another intervention would be to determine societal norms that accept violence and to identify strategies for changing those norms (Powell et all. 1999).

The ecological model supports a comprehensive public health approach that not only addresses an individual's risk factors, but also the norms, beliefs, social and economic systems which create conditions for the occurrence of sexual violence.