New Research Shows that Education on Sex and Consent is Key to Engaging Male Student Athletes in Campus Sexual Assault Prevention

It’s On Us’s new report reveals a gap in prevention training and shifts the focus to what male student athletes should do, not what they shouldn’t do

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, It’s On Us released “Prevention is a Team Sport: Empowering Male Student Athletes in Your Game Plan for Campus Sexual Assault Prevention,” first-of-its-kind research on how to engage male athletes in sexual assault prevention efforts on college campuses around the country. Building on It’s On Us’s previous research findings that male students are key to effective prevention efforts and male student athletes have unique prevention education needs, “Prevention is a Team Sport” is the first research to specifically explore college-aged, male athletes’ thoughts and behaviors regarding sex education and sexual assault prevention.

With specific and intentional training, male athletes can be game changers on their campuses. The vast majority of sexual assaults on campus – more than 90% – are committed by only 5-6% of male students, who are repeat offenders. A 2019 study found that being a male athlete in a position of leadership had a positive correlation with serial perpetration of alcohol-fueled rapes. Through 38 focus group sessions with more than 700 male athletes from NCAA teams, NJCAA teams and club teams at the Division I, Division II, Division III and community/junior college levels nationwide, It’s On Us developed recommendations for colleges and universities to empower male athletes to prevent campus sexual assault.

“Just like in any sport, successful prevention efforts require training and practice, and male student athletes must be engaged as part of the solution, rather than the problem,” said Tracey Vitchers, Executive Director of It’s On Us. “Up to this point, the combination of academic and athletic pressures and continued use of irrelevant programming has made it difficult to effectively facilitate prevention conversations with sports teams. Male student athletes, one of the largest groups of campus leaders, are key players in creating actionable change across campuses, and It’s On Us is committed to listening to, educating, and engaging athletes to feel prepared and empowered to intervene.”   

Key findings from “Prevention is a Team Sport” include:

• Young men need accurate sex and consent education: Initial experiences learning about sex – whether positive or negative – have a lasting impact on attitudes and behaviors toward sex, consent, relationships and gender norms. Many male athletes first learn about sex through pornography, which perpetuates myths and misinformation about sex, making accurate sex and consent education even more important.  
• Current trainings are not practical: Effective training must be intentional and specific to student athletes, such as hosting at a time when the athletes can be present physically and mentally and having multiple touchpoints no longer than one hour. Existing awareness and prevention education training programs are often boring, not reflective of campus culture, unengaging and typically conducted online.
• Male athletes believe survivors when told directly, but are often conflicted when they hear about an allegation against a teammate or athlete: Although participants were likely to believe and support survivors when they received a direct disclosure, when they learned about a teammate or friend who had been accused of sexual assault, they expressed concerns about false allegations being levied against themselves or their teammates.
• The athletes were unaware of what healthy – and unhealthy – relationships truly look like: Participants struggled to label characteristics of a toxic or abusive relationship they experienced or witnessed, particularly while the relationship occurred. 
• Male athletes want to help: Male athletes have the desire to be active bystanders, but lack the applicable programming to help them build the knowledge and skills to effectively do so. 

Recommendations from this research include:

1. Get Back to the Basics: Include basic, evidence-based information on sexual health and well-being in sexual assault prevention education.
2. Flag On The Play: Combat misinformation by including anecdotes, data and examples in sexual assault prevention education to address common stereotypes and false beliefs.
3. Keep Your Eyes on the Prize: When designing a prevention program, institutions must center the needs and realities of students on their campus.
4. Full Court Press: Instead of limiting prevention to focus on the extremes of healthy or abusive behavior, campuses can better serve students by focusing on the gray areas in between. 
5. Give Students A Game Plan: Information on preventing and responding to sexual assault, and support services, should be easy to find and provided regularly.
6. Practice, Practice, Practice: Use a conversational learning approach to educate students on what TO DO, rather than what not to do.
7. Empower Athletes to Bring their A Game: Ensure conversations can be impactful by focusing on the right setting, timing, tone and cadence of prevention education.

It’s On Us will use this research to create six to eight 30-45 minute long prevention education modules specifically designed for male college athletes. These modules will be piloted this summer by the It’s On Us team and deployed within individual team settings in the fall of 2023. The full “Prevention is a Team Sport” report can be found HERE.

It’s On Us is thankful to the authors of this report, Silvia Zenteno, Emily Hilty and Kyle Richard, as well as anyone else involved in the process. This research was funded through the generous support of the National Football League (NFL) as part of their ongoing work with the domestic violence and sexual assault fields. 

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