Prevention in Our Current Climate
Question #2: Given the COVID-19 emergency throughout the world, is the current BITB content what our target audience needs right now?
Our Response: The BITB curriculum uses examples and case studies to teach bystander intervention knowledge and skills in scenarios that do not exist (or at the very least are rare) in our current state of social distancing. Additionally, the COVID-19 emergency has created both conscious and unconscious anxiety in a number of our students, in their families and the communities in which they are now living. For some of our students, they are now socially isolated with people who are currently abusing/previously abused them or are isolated from important support people and systems. Given the variety of situations in which our students are living and learning, we are unsure if a primary prevention bystander intervention prevention program is what your students need right now. Our initial thought is that tertiary prevention (responding after assault has occurred), keeping people safe and connected, and building individual’s resilience skills may be the most appropriate actions right now.
Our team is also working together and with BITB College and High School implementers around the country to determine ways to deliver messaging rooted in the core tenets of our BITB programs that are relevant to our current time and considerate of everyone’s limited capacity for receiving information. We will share more about ways to deliver bite-sized BITB messaging via our listservs.
Below are some resources and articles on sexual assault and domestic violence in our current context that may also be of interest:
Futures Without Violence Information on COVID-19 for Survivors, Communities, and DV/SA Programs
NSVRC Resources for COVID-19 Response
COVID-19 Update: RAINN is Here for Survivors
Colleges Leave Sexual Assault Survivors in Limbo as Coronavirus Spreads
A New Covid-19 Crisis: Domestic Abuse Rises Worldwide
And as always, please feel free to reach out to Jane Stapleton at jane.stapleton@soteriasolutions.org with any questions about this information or email info@soteriasolutions.org if you would like to be added to our listserv.
We also know that many of you are continuing to provide support to survivors in your communities, and we are grateful to you for the work you are doing during this challenging time. With this in mind, resources are still available to survivors and their loved ones 24/7. The National Sexual Assault Hotline is available both through online chat and by phone at 1.800.656.HOPE (4673), and the National Domestic Violence Hotline is available through online chat, by texting LOVEIS to 22522, or by phone at 1.800.799.7233 (TTY: 1.800.787.3224). Both hotlines will direct callers to local resources.
These are unprecedented times, but we will continue to communicate and work together to address the challenges we all face. Thank you all for your continued efforts and support.
Best, The Soteria Solutions Team
Please join us for our second Virtual Water Cooler Session (VWC) this Friday, April 10 at 1pm ET. Our theme for this week’s VWC is Bite-Size BITB. We’ll be discussing the core tenets of BITB and considerations for prevention messaging online during this difficult time with ample time to brainstorm ideas and troubleshoot challenges. Join us Friday, April 10, 2020 at 1:00 EST via Zoom. Details here.