• Sexual assault is any type of sexual activity, including rape, to which a person does not consent. Also called rape, sexual violence, or sexual abuse, sexual assault is never a victim’s fault. It can happen to men, women or children.
• Findings from the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey show that sexual violence in youth, without appropriate trauma-informed interventions, can result in immediate and lifelong consequences, including poor physical, emotional, behavioral, and social health, future violence victimization, or future violence perpetration, which continues the cycle in adulthood. Sexual violence can be prevented and efforts are best focused on stopping sexual violence before it starts.
• The New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) Epidemiology and Response Division Injury and Behavioral Epidemiology Bureau (IBEB) continues to work with partners to lower the sexual assault rate by implementing multi-level prevention strategies. This includes training 6,962 New Mexicans (FY17 Target = 2,500) using an evidence-based or evidence-supported sexual violence primary prevention program.

• NM Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs
• Rape Crisis Center of Central NM    
• Sexual Assault Services of NW NM
• TEWA Women United        
• Silver Regional Sexual Assault Services    
• Aging and Long-Term Services Department Adult Protective Services Division
• NM Attorney General’s Office
• NM Asian Family Center
• University of NM Prevention Resource Center    
• Disability Advisory Group Tobacco/Sexual Assault
• NM Crime Victims Reparation Commission
• NM Children, Youth and Families Department - Domestic Violence
• NM Coalition Against Domestic Violence
• NM Public Education Department

• According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, multi-session prevention education for youth that changes norms around sexual violence (i.e., what individuals think is typical or accepted in their community and among their peers, “what’s normal”) is effective in reducing sexual violence.
• In FY16, 3,097 New Mexicans received evidence-based sexual violence prevention education. Evaluation data shows that these programs were effective in changing norms that are risk factors for sexual violence.
• Prevention efforts are most impactful when they occur on multiple levels – individual, relationship, community, and societal. For example, strategies that include policies for safer environments, mass media campaigns to change norms, and prevention programming are more effective than strategies that only provide individual-level education.
• Offering multiple training in large catchment areas/events are effective and incorporating a train-the-trainer program.

• The IBEB Sexual Violence Prevention Program works with partners around the state to provide education to youth, and adults who work with youth, for the primary prevention of sexual violence. All programs were evaluated using standardized measures beginning in FY16. Evaluation data show that youth who completed an Office of Injury Prevention (OIP)-funded program have lower acceptance of couple violence, lower acceptance of rape myth, higher acceptance of flexible gender norms, and are more likely to intervene as bystanders to interrupt instances of sexual violence. OIP will continue to work to increase the number of New Mexicans who have completed an evidence-based sexual assault primary prevention program by providing technical assistance and evaluation support to prevention partners.

The Sexual Violence Prevention Program will work with partners to lower the sexual assault rate by training New Mexicans (FY17 Target = 2,500) on an evidence-based or evidence-supported sexual assault primary prevention program.

• Q1: Deliver evidence-based primary prevention programming to at least 500 youth in New Mexico. Completed.
  
• Q2: Deliver evidence-based primary prevention programming to at least 1,000 youth in New Mexico. Provide technical assistance to six partners throughout the state working on environmental-level strategies for sexual violence prevention. Exceeded.
  
• Q3: Deliver evidence-based primary prevention programming to at least 1,000 youth in New Mexico. Exceeded
  
• Q4: Deliver evidence-based primary prevention programming to at least 500 youth in New Mexico. Exceeded.

In FY17, the program delivered evidence-based primary prevention education to 6,962 youth, more than doubling past Program performance as well as the FY17 target of 2,500.

The Injury and Behavioral Epidemiology Bureau continues to work with partners to lower the sexual assault rate by implementing multi-level prevention strategies such as a sexual violence primary prevention program.