Dr. Laura Salazar, associate professor of health promotion and behavior at Georgia State University’s School of Public Health, has studied the attitudes of college students around sexual relations and sex assault, examining the causes and potential solutions.
She has developed a web-based training program proven to reduce the likelihood that college-age men will be involved in sexual assaults, and to raise the odds that they will intervene to stop a potential assault. “It’s focused on helping them not get in trouble, helping them communicate with their sexual partners and teaching them skills to intervene,” Salazar said. “It’s not focused on ‘men are rapists.’” Part of the problem, Salazar said, is that many young men honestly don’t understand what constitutes consent. Web-based programs can be a cost-effective way to educate large numbers of students.
For more about Dr. Salazar, visit http://publichealth.gsu.edu/profile/laura-salazar/.