Using policies to prevent sexual and domestic violence perpetration

Last week over 250 people joined the PreventConnect web conference The role of alcohol policies to prevent intimate partner violence and sexual violence perpetration where we explored options to using alcohol policies toward contributing to sexual and domestic violence prevention. I was excited about this conversation where we acknowledged how alcohol has been framed in ways that excuse perpetrator behaviors and blame victims.  However, there are also potential opportunities to use alcohol policy to prevent sexual and domestic violence.

This web conference featured two recently published articles by CDC staff “The Role of Alcohol Policies in Preventing Intimate Partner Violence: A Review of the Literature” (January 2015) in the Journal of Studies of Alcohol and Drugs and “Exploring Alcohol Policy Approaches to Prevent Sexual Violence Perpetration” (November 2014) in Trauma, Violence and Abuse. Last week the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, released Key Findings: Exploring Alcohol Policy Approaches to Prevent Sexual Violence that summarizes the article about sexual violence. These papers explored several policy options:

• Alcohol pricing
• Alcohol sale time
• Alcohol outlet density
• Drinking environment
• Marketing
• Campus specific

What policy do you see as promising to prevent sexual and domestic violence?