Resources Library: Prevention

Honeycomb Reflection and Share Out

Added Tuesday, August 27, 2019 by Action Alliance

In July 2019 the Action Alliance organized and hosted a week-long retreat for young advocates, activists, and artists ages 17-23 called the Honeycomb Retreat. Our participants (fellows) went to workshops on systemic and interpersonal violence, consensual communities, zines for visionary futures, and using herbalism practices to heal from trauma. They also went to art sessions during which they worked with local artists-in-residence to create art in response to the things they were learning in their workshop and their own personal experiences. The week ended with a visioning session where fellows had the opportunity to talk about their skills they bring to our movement, the barriers that impact their full participation, the resources and support they need from adult allies, and what they are excited to do next!

This is an informational and reflective zine that describes some of our goals, frameworks, and outcomes—as well as a general overview of what happened at the retreat and who was there. Please do not hesitate to reach out and connect on these topics!

I Ask - Sexual Assault Awareness Month

Added Friday, February 15, 2019 by Action Alliance

Sexual Assault Awareness Month (observed annually in April) is a campaign to raise public awareness about sexual violence and educate communities on how to prevent it. The campaign theme, I Ask, champions the message that asking for consent is a healthy, normal, and necessary part of everyday interactions. You can download and print materials for your Sexual Assault Awareness Month activities below!

  • I Ask for Consent Palm Card and Handout cover the basics of knowing how to ask for and recognize consent. For best graphic quality, download the PDF and then print it out.
  • I Ask for Digital Consent Palm Card and Handout discuss the importance of consent in online interactions. For best graphic quality, download the PDF and then print it out.
  • I Ask How to Teach Consent Early Palm Card and Handout instructs parents on how to model consent with children in late childhood and early adolescence. For best graphic quality, download the PDF and then print it out.
  • I Ask How Power Impacts Consent Palm Cards and Handout looks at the way imbalances of power impact consent. For best graphic quality, download the PDF and then print it out.

For additional resources, visit the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC).

Indigenizing Love: A Toolkit for Native Youth to Build Inclusion

Added Wednesday, November 18, 2020 by Action Alliance

In response to requests from American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth, Western States Center partnered with the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, the Center for Native American Youth, and Native Youth Leadership Alliance to develop a resource toolkit for and with young Native leaders.

This toolkit is written to support Native youth, tribal communities, Two-Spirit and Native LGBTQIA+ collectives, community leaders, and partners who intend to better understand and support our Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ communities. Native youth have asked for more resources on relationship building, caretaking, and inclusion of the TwoSpirit community. They want to better understand the important and diverse ways that Two-Spirit relatives and community members have sustained practices of making relations in spite of and beyond settler colonial violence.

Indigenizing Love refers to the idea of understanding and reclaiming our Indigenous ways of life (including kinship systems, shared values, and expressions of love), and resisting centuries of imposed settler colonial practices, policies, and thoughts that devalue our rights to share Indigenous knowledge and thrive. To Indigenize Love, we are rebuilding connections, kinship and relationships, and strengthening our abilities to love and care for all of our relatives.

Info Sheet from NSVRC

Added Friday, September 29, 2017 by Action Alliance

Sexual assault is a widespread problem on college campuses. This tip sheet provides information for families to discuss regarding campus sexual assault as well as safety, consent, and healthy relationships. A list of questions to ask about how your child’s college handles sexual assault is also included.

Click here to view.

Investing in Prevention

Added Friday, May 21, 2021 by Action Alliance

The Action Alliance and Virginia's General Assembly are committed to ensuring the expansion of funding for primary prevention of sexual and intimate partner violence to confront and uproot the direct causes of violence. This year, we were successful in establishing $750k in new funding for primary prevention with the hopes of broadening and strengthening prevention work beyond federal funding streams.

On May 18th, the Action Alliance hosted a session on Investing in Prevention via the Directors’ Forum to discuss more about the essential components of primary prevention, how primary prevention complements and connects with intervention services, what the CDC means when it uses terms like “community-level strategies” and “layered approaches”, and more! One of the things we love most about primary prevention work is its hopefulness, inventiveness, and adaptability. If you aren’t already inspired by the world of primary prevention, check out the recording and resources from the forum!

View the May 18th Directors’ Forum Zoom recording (and download the slide deck below)
Access the Jamboard for the “Speedy Town” activity (which includes tips on identifying “downstream” and “upstream” approaches)
“Prevention Toybox” from the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence - a fantastic resource from which we borrowed the Speedy Town activity (with permission)!