This document has been formatted so that families, community groups, and schools can use each section as a separate handout or use them all together as one complete document. Prevention tips and resources are provided to help children and youth of different ages or stages of development. The term “sexual violence” is used to describe violence against someone that is sexual in nature. It may include behaviors that are physical, verbal, or visual. There are three different types of sexual violence described in this document — sexual harassment, sexual abuse, and sexual assault. This document provides general information and resources to help parents and families understand, recognize, and respond to sexual violence of their child or youth. Resources are organized into groups to ensure age appropriateness.
During the 2005 legislative session, the Iowa legislature continued this focused effort by directing the Department to address the specific issues of sexual harassment and assault. House File 816, Subsection 53 directs the Department of Education to provide schools with examples of age-appropriate materials and lists of resources that parents could use to teach their children to recognize and reject unwanted physical and verbal sexual advances. The new requirement also states that:
"School districts shall provide age-appropriate materials and a list of available community and web-based resources to parents at the registration and shall also include the age-appropriate materials and resource list in the student handbook."
"School districts shall incorporate the age-appropriate materials into relevant curricula and shall reinforce the importance of preventive measures when reasonable with parents and students."
School districts are encouraged to work with their communities to provide voluntary parent education sessions to provide parent with the skills and appropriate strategies to teach their children as described in this subsection." In response to this directive, the Department worked with several organizations and the Iowa Collaboration for Youth Development to create this document. It is a companion the Department's publication, "Preventing Bullying and Harassment: A Support Manual for Iowa’s Sample District Harassment and Bullying Policy."
"Preventing Child and Youth Sexual Harassment, Abuse, and Assault: A Resource for Iowa Families"
This document is a compilation of each of the pdf files/ available individually below.
"Basics" of Sexual Violence