Preventing Sexual Violence in College Men: RealConsent for Use in Vietnam
Condition: Sexual Violence
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      This study is a randomized controlled trial using a web-based adaptation of the RealConsent
      program among eligible college men in Hanoi, Vietnam. This study will test the impact of the
      program on promoting prosocial bystander behavior and preventing sexual violence
      perpetration, through improvements in the seven knowledge, attitudinal, and emotional
      mediators over a seven month study period, with a baseline survey and two follow-up surveys.
    

Detailed description: 
      Sexual violence is any sexual act committed against a person without freely given consent.
      Men and women may experience sexual violence, but most victims are women. Women's first
      experiences of sexual violence often occur in adolescence. In Asia and the Pacific, about 14%
      of sexually experienced adolescent girls report forced sexual debut. Thus, early prevention
      with men is critical; yet, young men often are difficult to reach and may resist programs
      that target sexual violence, not seeing themselves as potential perpetrators. Prevention with
      men that integrates a bystander framework, which treats men as "allies" of women, is one way
      to target attitudes and behaviors while decreasing resistance to participation. In this
      study, the researchers will adapt an existing program for use with men attending one of two
      universities in Hanoi, Vietnam. This study will test the impact of the adapted program on
      knowledge/attitudinal/emotional mediators, and in turn, on sexual violence perpetration and
      prosocial bystander behavior in this target group. The adapted program is a novel,
      six-session, web-based serial drama and educational program designed to prevent sexual
      violence perpetration and to enhance prosocial bystander behavior in young men. The program
      has reduced the incidence of sexual violence among men attending an urban, public university
      in the Southeastern United States.

      After conducting interviews with men and women, and focus group discussions with college men
      and university stakeholders the researchers will produce a web-based adaptation of the
      RealConsent program in Vietnam. The researchers will then conduct a randomized controlled
      trial to test the impact of the adapted program, relative to a health-education control
      condition, on knowledge/attitudinal/emotional mediators, and in turn, on sexually violent
      behaviors, and prosocial bystander behavior in freshmen men attending two universities in
      Hanoi. This project will be the first to adapt and to test the impact of a novel,
      theoretically grounded, web-based intervention to prevent sexual violence perpetration and to
      promote prosocial bystander behavior among young men for use in a middle-income country. If
      this study shows that the adapted program is effective cross-culturally, it will have
      exceptional potential for scale-up to prevent men's perpetration of sexual violence against
      women globally.
    

Intervention name(s): Adapted RealConsent; Health Education Control Condition
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): The program is a novel, theory-driven, evidence-based serial drama and educational program tailored to young men and delivered in six episodes via the web. Participants will view six 30-minute modules designed to prevent sexual violence in young men; Participants will view six 30-minute web-based serial drama modules designed to promote health.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: Behavioral intervention; Violent behavior