Background: Schools are important contexts for preventing sexual violence (SV) among adolescents. Evaluating whether programming is effective requires surveying youth about SV experiences. However, school communities often have concerns about asking students, particularly those in middle school, about these experiences. This study sought to…

Background: Sexual violence (SV) is a serious public health concern, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQ+) youth report higher rates than their heterosexual and cisgender peers. This qualitative study aimed to understand LGBTQ+ students' perspectives on how middle and high school environments can better prevent…

Cyberbullying is a serious problem, and research on associations between different types of interpersonal violence and cyberbullying victimization is limited. The purpose of this study was to examine how the frequency of physical dating violence (PDV), sexual dating violence (SDV), and forced sexual intercourse (FSI) is associated with…

Sexual violence among adolescents is a major concern. This study examined the impact of the peer-led "Sources of Strength" program on gender-based violence and attitudes dismissive of sexual harassment. Twenty high schools in Colorado were randomized to intervention (n = 11) or waitlist control (n = 9); students (N = 6461; 9th-11th…

Research highlights the high rates and deleterious outcomes of teen dating and sexual violence (DSV), underscoring the critical role of prevention. School personnel have an important role in preventing DSV among teens. The purpose of this study was to explore the rates and correlates of school personnel's opportunity and actions to intervene in…

Suicide is a global public health concern. The interplay of the multiple risk factors (sexual violence victimization, prescription drug misuse, bullying experience) with adolescents' suicidal behaviors has not been studied extensively. The purpose of this study is to examine the association between sexual violence victimization, prescription drug…

Numerous scholars have called for young adult literature (YAL) to be a pedagogical avenue for educating secondary and postsecondary students about sexual violence, who are often socialized into harmful beliefs about victims. In this study, we draw on Manne's theorizing of "himpathy" and "herasure" to explore the ways in which…

Rape culture and sexual violence have especially entered popular discourse in recent years, largely due to the significant activism of Tarana Burke's #MeToo movement. As such, because educators are increasingly taking up these topics, approaches to such intense subject matter in literacy learning need to be creatively and critically (re)considered…

Amid seemingly endless media reports of sexual misconduct in our various institutions and particularly our schools, calls for better addressing gender injustice through education have again proliferated. In light of these calls, it continues to be important to appreciate the difficulties of teaching and activism in this area within the context of…

Drawing on data from a larger feminist study that explored how secondary English teacher candidates responded to a sexual trauma text set and pedagogy for teaching such narratives with Canadian adolescents, this paper examines how caretaker discourses emerged in response to these stories and learning. This especially manifested as emerging teacher…

With sexual violence prevention programs gaining traction in secondary schools, students' attitudes toward sexual violence have begun to be measured more frequently. While these attitudes are measured as outcomes of prevention programs, students' preexisting attitudes toward sexual violence shape how prevention programs are received by the…

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/nonbinary, and queer (LGBTQ +) adolescents experience considerable disparities in dating violence and sexual assault victimization relative to heterosexual and cisgender peers. These disparities may be driven in part by the disruptive effects of heterosexism and cissexism on school-based and family…

In this collection, scholars from the United States, Canada, and Australia examine the concepts of villainification and anti-villainification in social studies curriculum and popular culture, as well as within broader sociocultural contexts. Villainification is the process of identifying an individual or a small group of individuals as the sole…

The education of Black male high school students is presently occurring in the context of the #MeToo movement. Recent reports of inappropriate sexual conduct by high profile men, including Black men, have generated heightened awareness, confusion, anxiety, and ambivalence among Black males regarding what behavior is acceptable toward girls and…

Pornography often depicts traditional gender norms and aggression paired with sexual behaviour. Among adolescents, exposure to pornography is related to unhealthy beliefs about gender, sex and relationships. Critical thinking about media may reduce the internalisation of unhealthy messages in pornography. However, there is a dearth of research…