Innovations in Interpersonal Violence Prevention: Research, Collaboration and Opportunities

Intimate partner and sexual violence (IPV and SV) remain significant public health problems for young women and men, and both IPV and SV have short and long-term psychological and physical health impacts for all. Through consistent direction and support from Centers for Disease Control’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC), IPV/SV violence prevention research has shown its potential to prevent these forms of violence. This change is highly significant; many did not believe it was possible to prevent rape and intimate partner violence. In recognition of this emerging field of study, the 2013 Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act required US public colleges to provide bystander-based training to reduce sexual violence, yet no requirement for evaluation of this recommendation was included in this law. Further, while bystander approaches are recognized as “promising prevention strategies” by the 2014 White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault, few rigorous and sufficiently powered studies evaluate the efficacy of bystander programs to reduce violence victimization and perpetration at college and community levels. The papers in this special issue catalogue methods, measures, and outcomes to guide successful implementation and investigations of bystander prevention programs, considering demographic and situational contexts that have traditionally been understudied. Lessons learned from these investigations provide a roadmap of strategies to guide the next generation of researchers, program developers, and policymakers toward effective interpersonal violence prevention.