Adolescent Consent & Sexual Violence: A School Intervention Evaluation

Overview

Since 2015, Uppsala Tjej- och Transjour has run school sessions for secondary school pupils in Uppsala municipality, from year 9 to year 2. The school session is a 120-minute workshop and focuses on increasing knowledge and changing attitudes about consent, reciprocity and sexual violence. The intervention aims to increase participants' knowledge about consent, reciprocity, sex, sexuality and sexual violence in order to create positive attitudinal changes around gender and sexual violence and influence behaviour. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the effect of Uppsala Tjej- och Transjour's school intervention on young people's knowledge, attitudes and behaviour regarding consent, reciprocity and sexual violence. A cluster randomised controlled trial with 16 clusters (89 participants in each cluster) in each arm, a total of 32 clusters. Schools are randomised after baseline measurement to receive the intervention in autumn 2023 or spring 2024 (waiting list). Data collection is done through a questionnaire at two measurement points. A baseline measurement before the intervention (T1) and measurement two (T2) 6 months later. There are still few violence prevention programmes in Sweden that have been evaluated for effectiveness, and several programmes come from the USA. This study is based on a Swedish material and constitutes an important contribution to the development of more effective methods for violence prevention and increased insights into reciprocity and consent.

Background: Young people and LGBTQ+ people are currently, and have long been, over-represented as victims of sexual offences in Sweden. This is clearly illustrated in both statistics from the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention and in the scientific literature. In order to counteract and prevent violence among young people and boys' violence against girls, the government has created a specific action programme that particularly emphasises preventive measures with the aim of improving knowledge and developing methods. The action programme emphasises the role of schools in working to implement a culture of consent and enhanced violence prevention. Since 2015, Uppsala Tjej- och Transjour has run school sessions for secondary school pupils in Uppsala municipality, from year 9 to year 2. The schools themselves order the sessions and allocate time for them. The school session is a 120-minute workshop and focuses on increasing knowledge and changing attitudes about consent, reciprocity and sexual violence. The intervention aims to increase participants' knowledge about consent, reciprocity, sex, sexuality and sexual violence in order to create positive attitudinal changes around gender and sexual violence and influence behaviour. The intervention uses awareness-raising materials as well as exercises and group discussion. Uppsala Tjej- och Transjour has a unique position in society where they work closely with young people and the problems that young people experience in everyday life. Uppsala Tjej- och Transjour, together with Uppsala University, has received funding from the Swedish Gender Equality Agency for an impact evaluation of the school sessions. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to evaluate the effect of Uppsala Tjej- och Transjour's school intervention on young people's knowledge, attitudes and behaviour regarding consent, reciprocity and sexual violence. Method: A cluster randomised controlled trial with 16 clusters (89 participants in each cluster) in each arm, a total of 32 clusters. A cluster can be a whole (smaller) school with three parallel classes or a programme in a secondary school with three parallel classes. The schools register as usual, but are randomised after the baseline measurement to receive the intervention in autumn 2023 or spring 2024 (waiting list). Data collection is done through a questionnaire at two measurement points. A baseline measurement before the intervention (T1) and measurement two (T2) 6 months later. Significance: Violence prevention has previously mainly focused on victims and perpetrators and excluded men from being active participants in prevention programmes. There are still few violence prevention programmes in Sweden that have been evaluated for effectiveness, and several programmes come from the USA. This study is based on a Swedish material and constitutes an important contribution to the development of more effective methods for violence prevention and increased insights into reciprocity and consent.