Tuesday, May 13, 2025
5/13/2025
State of Wisconsin Rape Prevention and Education Program - The Wisconsin Department of Health Services Rape Prevention and Education Project Abstract Summary The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS), Division of Public Health will build upon previous work of the Rape Prevention and Education Program (RPE) to bring a public health approach to sexual violence prevention in Wisconsin. The DHS RPE Program will use the best available evidence to prevent sexual violence in the state of Wisconsin. The DHS will fund partnerships between local health departments, local schools and school districts, and sexual assault service providers in order to accomplish the strategies and outcomes outlined, with a focus on community-level work. Rigorous evaluation and continuous quality improvement will ensure quality programs and activities. Sexual violence is a pervasive public health problem in Wisconsin. Data from the 2010-2012 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) indicates that the lifetime prevalence of contact sexual violence is 35.5% or more than one in three Wisconsin women. Of Wisconsin women, 20% have experienced completed or attempted rape. National and state data indicate a need to start early in life with prevention efforts. More than three quarters of female victims of completed rape reported that the first occurrence was before age 25, with 41.3% reporting that the first occurrence happened as a minor. In order to prevent sexual violence before it ever occurs, the DHS will focus on efforts to prevent sexual violence among adolescents, increase protective factors in the communities in which they live, and reduce risk factors. In 2017, 7.2% of high school students reported ever being physically forced to have sexual intercourse. Additionally, one in 10 Wisconsin high school students experienced sexual dating violence (being forced to do sexual things they did not want to do by someone they were dating or going out with). Measurable outcomes are a necessity to determine the effects of the implemented strategies and activities. Potential risk factors for sexual violence are identified from the risk assessment and include lack of resources on healthy relationships, social norms supporting male superiority and sexual entitlement, and social norms maintaining female inferiority and sexual submission. While some potential protective factors identified in the risk assessment include equity for people of color, LGBTQ and other minority populations, positive identity development, and healthy sexual development. The short term outcomes include, first, establishing a formal agreement signed by partners to increase alignment between state level goals and preventive strategies at the state and local levels. Second, demonstrate the selection of sub-recipients based on data driven decision making. Third, increase data-driven decision making for program selection. Fourth, increase capacity from partnerships to access and use data to leverage support. Fifth, increase the number of process and outcome evaluation activities from state level evaluation and track state level indicators. Lastly, increase the percentage of implemented communal and societal levels approaches.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).