The Best of Times, the Worst of Times: “Best Practices” for Survivor Support and Gender Violence Prevention Education on College Campuses

Abstract

Abstract This article reports on a five-year project (2015–2020) to provide a campus-wide, systemic approach to survivor support and gender violence prevention education at one large, state university by a team of violence prevention educators, seasoned program development experts, and victim advocates and practitioners. Tasked with developing a “best practice” blueprint, we report on three overarching initiatives: the reliance on a strong campus/community partnership through our Coordinated Community Response Team and engagement with faculty and staff; a gender violence prevention model that focuses on leadership engagement at all levels of the organization, bystander approaches to cultural norms change, and social justice and gender transformative paradigms considered central when engaging on these issues with people of all gender identities, including men, women, and non-binary individuals; and a set of priorities that includes organizational leadership, attention to sustainability, a strong collaboration with students and community partners, and the collection of data at all stages of the process.