Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Through School-Based Sex Education Programs: A Review of Evidence

Intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual violence has become an epidemic, not only in the United States, but all over the world. Adolescents and young adults are among one of the most vulnerable populations to be affected by these epidemics. The most recent statistics state that 1 in 10 women and 1 in 33 men report having been survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) and/or comorbid sexual violence in their lives. The purpose of this analysis is to appraise the systematic effectiveness of methods for sex education programs in public school systems including reported “lapses” and lack of education on intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual violence in school based sex education programs. This review will take into account the school based sex education program in the United States in addition to various countries residing outside of the United States. Various countries included in this review will look at curriculum in Japan, Namibia, and France. The Mixed Method Assessment Tool (MMAT) was used to appraise quality of the evidence. Various school based sex education program outcomes will be examined for effectiveness. Intentions of this analysis include increased awareness of the epidemic among adolescents and young adults, increased reporting, and an updated course of study for sex education. Several databases, such as the Science Direct, Springer Link, and PubMed were utilized. Keywords used when searching these databases include intimate partner violence (IPV), sexual violence, help-seeking, Bystander, Erin’s Law, sex education, youth, teacher, school nurse, and adolescence. Exclusions included participants under the age of 10, private school sex education programs, and articles published prior to 2009. IPV and sexual violence are often comorbid. The purpose of this review is to appraise evidence for the effectiveness of school based adolescent sex education programs on increasing awareness of intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual violence.