National Sexual Assault Conference 2023: Conversations about Alcohol and Sex – Changes in Community Norms and Culture

The 2023 National Sexual Assault Conference® was held in San Francisco, California, August 22-24. The conference theme, Equity in Action, called for conference participants to fearlessly pursue a world free from sexual violence and address change across systems and institutions. This session was part of the Prevention track, sponsored by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center with funding from the Centers for Disease Control Prevention. Learn more and access session materials here.

In this session Haleigh Harrold and Tonjie Reese, from eleven24 and the SAFE Bar Network, share stories of centering prevention education outside of the classroom and connecting with underserved populations. We know that in order to be successful and empower communities to be leaders in prevention, we must address implicit bias and create intersectional programs. This includes having nuanced conversations about identity, alcohol, and sex. Furthermore, in social settings, safety is not only a concern for people drinking but for everyone. During this workshop we will discuss social norms around alcohol, identify ways to build community through intentional dialogue and provide tips for including intersectional practices in sexual violence prevention.