When Dr. Sarah Peitzmeier talks about the success of an anti-assault program called Flip the Script, many people are shocked to learn about it: a scientifically tested program, proven to cut in half the risk of sexual assault experienced by its college student participants.
“We need to get over the belief that nothing can be done to prevent sexual assault - it’s not true,” said Peitzmeier, associate professor in behavioral and community health at University of Maryland’s School of Public Health. Now she is co-leading a study to test an online version of the in-person program.
In U.S. higher education, sexual violence remains rampant – one in five women in college are assaulted and 9 out of 10 of those women know their assaulter. First-year students are particularly at risk.
Flip the Script, developed by Canadian public health researcher Dr. Charlene Senn, is a 12-hour, in-person program delivered in small groups by peer facilitators on university campuses. The program empowers young women through “resistance education,” including skills to recognize risk cues and to prioritize one’s own sexual rights in risky situations with an acquaintance, as well as developing positive considerations around sexual desire and relationship values.
In a 2015 randomized controlled trial led by Senn, women who were in the original in-person Flip the Script program were 50% less likely to experience sexual assault in the following year. The program is the only one to show such a large and long-lasting reduction in sexual and intimate partner violence for participants, Peitzmeier said.
Now Peitzmeier and Senn are co-leading a randomized, controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of the online version. They hope to recruit over 1,000 freshmen and sophomores who identify as women at six colleges in the United States and Canada, including the University of Maryland. The study will follow two groups, one of which will take the online program while the other takes a one-hour online workshop covering key elements of consent and how to navigate conversations about sex and consent.
“We have taken a program that was rigorously designed by researchers and adapted it for a virtual format that is more practical and accessible in the real world. Next we want to know if it works as effectively online,” Peitzmeier said.
The online program will build on an earlier test-run. “A virtual pilot program showed promising results, similar to the in-person program, including participants reporting decreased negative beliefs about rape victims and increased confidence to defend themselves during an acquaintance assault.”
One participant at Canada’s University of Guelph said in an anonymous feedback survey the online pilot was extremely informative: “The program … truly does change your perception about how you approach relationships, boundaries, sexuality and more. It empowers you to be confident in your sexual decisions, defending yourself from coercion and overall leaves you feeling more ready to approach coercive situations but also [to be confident] in having meaningful and satisfying relationships.”
This fall and spring Peitzmeier and Senn are recruiting participants. Interested UMD students can find out more about eligibility and sign up here: idea3project.com.
The project is funded by the Canadian Institute for Health Research (CIHR) and Arnold Ventures.