Using mobile technology to enhance college sexual violence response, prevention, and risk reduction efforts

Abstract

Given high rates of sexual violence (SV) perpetrated against college students, campus administrators need to identify and utilize strategies to prevent and reduce the risk of SV before, during, and after violence has occurred. Developments in technology offer easily accessible avenues for colleges to deliver accurate resources to students in real time. The present study describes the iterative development process that engaged campus administrators, rape crisis center advocates, law enforcement, and students in the development of the mobile application (app), uSafeUS®. Unlike other college safety apps, uSafeUS provides primary prevention by facilitating users safe exit from potentially dangerous situations, secondary prevention by enabling the user to secure help when SV occurs, and tertiary prevention that enables users to obtain resources to help themselves or a friend in the aftermath of SV, all in one place.