Tennessee Rape Prevention and Education - The Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) will implement community-and societal- level strategies that address the social determinants of health related to sexual violence in Tennessee. According to the 2021 data from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) and Tennessee Incident Based Reporting System (TIBRS), 5,829 people were sexual assault victims and 6,123 people were offenders. Also, between 2017-2021, females, non-Hispanic blacks, and individuals ages 14-17 experienced higher rates of sexual violence victimization. Additionally, results from the 2022 health equity capacity assessment case studies showed that marginalized groups experience more sexual violence. Other risk factors described were homelessness, poverty, and lack of education. TDH plans to work with local partners and community members to implement and evaluate community-societal level strategies that address the social determinants of health related to sexual violence (SV) through strategic planning, trainings, capacity building, and community needs assessments. The implementation strategies include promoting Tennessee Benefit Kitchen, assisting individuals with completing Tennessee education scholarship and grant applications, and providing training and curricula of evidence-based programs to prevent SV including Shifting Boundaries, Safe Bar, and Green Dot. The populations of focus will be counties with higher rates of sexual violence, females, non-Hispanic blacks, and victims ages 14-17. Based upon a correlation analysis between sexual violence and the social determinants of health, racial and ethical minority groups, housing insecurity, drug-related crime rate, and opioid prescription rate were determined to be statistically significant social determinants of health that impact sexual violence in TN. TDH has the organizational capacity through central office staff, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville Evaluation team, community partners, and sub-recipients to accomplish the grant requirements and achieve the overall desired outcomes of the grant to decrease sexual violence perpetration and victimization in TN.
