Presentation Topics for Public and Private Universities

How to Help a Sexual Assault Survivor, What Men Can Do (for males)

“The Men’s Program” opens with a non-confrontational tone, defining rape and sexual assault. Next, participants view a 15 minute video where a police trainer describes a rape experience that is used to develop men’s understanding of and empathy toward rape survivors. After noting that the experience the police officer had is similar to that which has been experienced by one in four college women, participants learn to help a woman recover from a rape experience who comes to them seeking assistance and support. Participants hear what men can do in their own behavior to help prevent rape including defining consent and using effective bystander intervention strategies. The final section focuses on bystander intervention in situations involving alcohol and sexual assault. In this interactive section, participants are taken through a guided imagery of an alcohol-related rape and are taught effective ways that they could intervene if they come upon such a situation. Participants brainstorm ways to apply this new information to their own social groups. Research has shown that this program not only teaches men how to help women recover from rape and increases their empathy toward female rape survivors, but that high risk men who see the program commit less sexual assault than men who don't.

Recognizing Risky Men: Helping our Friends out of Dangerous Situations (for females)

Because few women perceive themselves to be potential victims of rape, The Women’s Program focuses on how to identify men’s potentially high-risk behavior and how women can be effective bystanders with their friends in high-risk situations, particularly those involving alcohol. In addition, the program focuses on how to help a friend recover from sexual assault without blaming the survivor. During the program, participants learn characteristics of men who rape and the situations in which men are most likely to commit rape. We discuss how to identify red flags in men’s behavior and how to help one's friends identify these behaviors. We also discuss ways participants can help sexual assault survivors and explain that helping sexual assault survivors involves understanding the needs of the survivor as well as self-limitations. In the end, participants are engaged in discussion of bystander intervention scenarios and talk about how they can help their friends avoid risky situations

Trauma Informed Training for Title IX Coordinators, Investigators, and Hearing Board Members (1/2 day or all day)

Choosing the right investigator
Preparing to investigate, prior to interviews
Typical dynamics of sexual assault cases, how they differ from stereotypes
Victim Impact
Interview Techniques for Complainant and Respondent (many suggested questions)
How to determine the type of sexual assault that is alleged (a. without consent and/or by force, b. unconscious victim, c. intoxication).
How to determine if victim was too intoxicated to consent:
Questions to ask complainant and respondent about alcohol and predatory behavior, respectively.
Assessing credibility and corroboration (several questions for complainant and respondent, and things to ask about)
How not to get hung up on a potential false report
Completing the Investigation
Writing an Investigation Report, what to include and language to use
Assisting the complainant to prepare for the hearing
What to ask complainant and respondent during hearing
Explaining counterintuitive behavior to a hearing panel
Approaching various arguments made by respondents

Fixing the Bridge: Why Bystander Intervention Must be the Choice of Everyone (coed)

This session focuses on the responsibility we all have to recognize a high risk situation when we see it, and intervene effectively. Data on the prevalence of sexual assault is shared, along with common responses of survivors. Information on PTSD and how to help a friend is included. A strong emphasis on how to intervene as a bystander is the core of this presentation.

Preventing and Responding to Title IX Violations: What Administrators, Faculty, Staff, Title IX Coordinators, Investigators, and Conduct Officers Need to Know

In this comprehensive training session (2-3 hours), participants learn about the prevalence of sexual violence. Next, participants learn about how it might feel to experience sexual violence, so that survivors can be assisted in the best way possible. The research on perpetrator behavior is shared, with implications for educating students and for weighing evidence. Next, the topic of PTSD is covered in detail. Policy approaches to preventing violence are then shared including an overview of Title IX, and information about the Campus SAVE Act. Several programmatic ideas for preventing Title IX violations are also shared in this workshop designed to help institutions comply with the Campus SAVE Act.

Conducting a Conduct Process that Promotes Survivor Safety and Perpetrator Accountability

In this session, designed for college administrators with direct roles investigating or adjudicating Title IX violations, participants learn about who sexual violence typically occurs on college campuses. We discuss today's legal environment regarding issues of sexual violence. Participants learn a great deal about perpetrator behavior and survivor responses to trauma. Practical advice is also offered for adjudicating Title IX violations.

2 Day Training for Peer Educators

Several formats are available for 2 day trainings for military personnel, male and female college students, community activists, student affairs staff, and interested others to learn how to present rape prevention programs. Content and format of training is arranged individually with each client. Standard formats are available along with individually tailored designs to meet the needs of individual organizations. The following is a 2 day format for a group of male peer educators as an example:

Day 1

9:00 Introductions, Ground Rules, Overview of Training

9:30 Teambuilder

10:00 Presentation of The Men’s Program (TMP)

11:15 Discussion of TMP

11:45 Understanding Behavior Change Theory to Change Men’s Behavior

12:00 Lunch

1:00 Why and How Your Work Will Be Effective

1:45 Alcohol and Sexual Assault

2:45 How Gender Roles Contribute to Sexual Assault

3:45 Bystander Intervention and Rape Myths

4:45 Rape Trauma Syndrome/PTSD

5:45 Logistical Discussion for Presenting

6:00 End

Day 2

9:00 Untangling a Difficult Problem Together

9:30 Consent

10:15 Homophobia and Male-on-Male Rape

11:00 Difficult Questions and Difficult People

12:00 Lunch

1:00 Practice Answering Tough Questions

1:45 Practice Presenting in Pairs

2:15 Present to Entire Group and Receive Feedback

3:45 The Voice of a Survivor

4:30 Next Steps for Your Group

6:00 End

Harnessing the Power of our Collective Voice in Ending Rape (Keynote)

This keynote address is both deeply moving and highly motivational and will energize participants to make a difference in their schools and communities. In it Dr. Foubert shares the latest national statistics on prevalence of rape, and talks about the importance of finding our most powerful individual and collective voices in the movement to end rape. He also shares information on program methods that have been shown to work well and what doesn’t work so well. He then discusses myths the rape prevention movement has embraced and how we need to modify our approach. Later, he discusses the latest statistics about survivors, men who rape, the circumstances of rape, and the aftermath of rape in survivor’s lives. As he concludes, he talks about things we can all do to end rape, how rape affects all of us, a vision for a world without rape, and wraps up with a motivational message about the need for every one of us to be involved.

Understanding Rape-Related PTSD: Essential Knowledge for University Administrators, Conduct Boards, and Law Enforcement

Rape Trauma Syndrome, a type of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, is a common result of a sexual assault experience. The symptoms that characterize PTSD have serious implications for how a survivor characterizes her experience. This session will take participants through a rape experience by seeing a scene from a movie. Afterward, we will engage in an interactive activity to identify how women in different states of PTSD might talk about their rape experience. Implications for witness testimony in conduct and legal hearings will be discussed in this highly enlightening and dynamic session.

The Neurobiology of Sexual Trauma

There has been an explosion of recent research about how sexual violence intersects with hormones, neurotransmitters, and memory. This technical but easy-to-understand presentation focuses on how the body releases hormones during trauma that impeded rational action, cause problems with memory, and often leads to a tonic immobility or "Freeze" response. This information is discussed as it relates to investigating Title IX violations, adjudicating cases, and evaluating witness testimony.

How Faculty Can Foster an Environment Free From Title IX Violations

In this session, faculty hear from a speaker who has served as a faculty member since 2002, whose research focus is on ending sexual violence. Participants will learn about the prevalence of sexual violence, characteristics of perpetrators, how sexually explicit media relates to Title IX violations, barriers to reporting sexual assault, the neurobiology of sexual trauma, and some practical advice on how to navigate the treacherous waters of being a faculty member interacting with students who survivor sexual violence.