Emory-Led Trial in Vietnam Seeks to Prevent Violence Against Women Through Education, Entertainment

By Kelly Jordan

Sexual violence is a problem on university campuses around the world. Researchers at the Emory University Rollins School of Public Health received a $3.5 million R01 from the National Institute of Mental Health and the Director’s Office of the National Institutes of Health that will fund research aimed at preventing future sexual violence through a national implementation trial targeting male undergraduates in Vietnam.

What this project will do:

The trial will study the effectiveness of ‘high intensity’ and ‘low intensity’ strategies to implement GlobalConsent “at scale.” GlobalConsent is an efficacious, web-based, six-module “edutainment” program  designed to prevent sexually violent behavior and to empower bystander behavior. The program uses evidence-based behavior-change techniques, including a locally produced serial drama and narratives from Vietnamese celebrities.

“To our knowledge, this program is the first of its kind to intervene successfully with undergraduate men to reduce sexually violent behavior and to increase bystander behavior in a middle-income country," says Kathryn Yount, PhD, the Rollins researcher leading this project. "Its success demonstrates that young men can be engaged as allies to prevent sexual violence against women.”

Preliminary findings have been promising. As the current project identifies cost-effective strategies for national scale-up, the team will seek ways to scale GlobalConsent to all universities across Vietnam, so that all new male students receive this program at orientation. 

Why this research matters:

• 1 in 5 women worldwide experience a sexual assault at university.
• 3 in 4 women develop post-traumatic stress disorder by the first month after a sexual assault, with cascading social, academic, and health consequences.
• Sexual violence, and its aftermath, are preventable. According to the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention, strategies to prevent sexual violence include the promotion of anti-violence social norms, bystander efficacy and skills to intervene safely, and engaging young men as allies in prevention. GlobalConsent integrates these and other prevention strategies.

“Addressing the root causes of sexually violent behavior by men is beneficial for men and women," says Yount. "First, as Paul Fleming and colleagues point out, men are more likely to perpetrate nearly all types of violence against women and men. Second, violent and unattainable masculinity norms are considered to be among the root causes of men’s violence, and these norms are well known to be harmful for men. Thus, preventing sexual violence by men is likely to have cascading, beneficial effects for both women and men.”

The trial brings together collaborators from Emory University, Georgia State University, the Center for Creative Initiatives in Health and Population in Hanoi, and six universities across Vietnam.