Preventing Violence

Violence is preventable. We can stop violence before it happens and build safer, healthier communities where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.

What is Violence Prevention?

Violence prevention focuses on stopping harm before it happens. By addressing root causes, reducing risk factors, and strengthening protective factors—such as supportive relationships, safe environments, and access to resources—we can create safer, healthier communities where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.

Prevention efforts often include:

• Education and skill-building – Teaching bystander intervention, healthy relationship skills, and ways to prevent harm
• Community engagement – Running campaigns to promote safety and health, creating safe public spaces, and building supportive networks
• Policy and systems change – Advocating for laws and policies that protect communities and ensure access to education, jobs, housing, and healthcare

Because various forms of violence are strongly interconnected, comprehensive prevention strategies that involve individuals, relationships, communities, and societies are likely the most effective. To learn more about prevention strategies, visit the Centers for Disease Control's About Violence Prevention webpage.

Violence is not inevitable. Through intentional efforts, we can prevent it and build a future where safety and well-being are a reality for all.

Why Violence Prevention Matters

An estimate 1.4 million Nebraska experience some form of intimate partner or sexual violence in their lifetime. The affects of violence stretch beyond the individual survivor. Violence impacts individuals, families, and entire communities. It contributes to trauma, creates cycles of harm, and worsens health disparities—meaning some groups experience more health problems due to unequal access to care and resources. Prevention is key to ensuring that every Nebraskan can live in a safe and supportive environment.

However, communities in Nebraska face unique challenges, including:

• Limited access to prevention resources, particularly in rural areas.
• A need for more statewide data on violence which helps us understand where violence is happening, what’s causing it, and what strategies are working to prevent it.
• A lack of diverse partnerships to strengthen prevention efforts.

By addressing these challenges, we can make a meaningful difference in reducing violence and fostering long-term community safety. Learn how the Nebraska Coalition and local survivor advocacy organizations are addressing these challenges through the Rape Prevention & Education Grant Program.

How You Can Help

Everyone has a role in preventing violence and creating safer communities. Here’s how you can take action: 

• Model healthy relationships for the young people in your life.
• Speak up if you witness someone using violence towards others, and feel safe doing so.
• Challenge statements that blame survivors or minimize or excuse violence. 
• Follow and share prevention messages. Connect with your local survivor advocacy organizations on social media, and follow the Nebraska Coalition on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
• Volunteer with your local survivor advocacy organization.
• Donate to your local survivor advocacy organization.
• Speak up for policies or initiatives that promote healthy relationships and safe communities. Learn how to get involved in public policy

Additional resources: Veto Violence

Businesses

Businesses can play a significant role by:

• Launching an anti-violence awareness campaign in the workplace.
• Developing and adopting policies and procedures for the workplace to effectively prevent and respond to violence, and train staff on how to prevent violence and promote healthy relationships.
• Ensuring employees experiencing violence can access support and accommodations they may need to stay safe, and that overall workplace safety is prioritized.
• Partnering with a local survivor advocacy organization to learn how to foster a trauma-informed and healthy work environment

Additional resources for businesses: Ending Sexual Assault and Harassment in the Workplace | Creating Safe Environments in the Workplace for Victims/Survivors of Violence | How Bars & Restaurants Can Help Prevent Violence Infographic

Schools

Schools can also play an important role in preventing violence among young people by:

• Surveying school climate to help determine how to build a safe and trauma-informed learning environment.
• Incorporating social skills, emotional development, and violence prevention curricula that teach youth healthy relationships and consent in age-appropriate, medically accurate, and inclusive ways.
• Launching a school-wide awareness campaign developed by and for students.
• Becoming familiar with mandatory reporting laws and communicating openly with students about limits to confidentiality up front.
• Partnering with a local survivor advocacy organization in your efforts.

Additional resources for schools: How Schools Can Help Prevent Violence Infographic | National Center of Safe Supportive Learning Environments | Stop Sexual Assault in Schools | Sexual Violence Prevention Educator’s Guide

Healthcare

Healthcare professionals can play a role in preventing violence daily by:

• Talking with all patients about healthy and unhealthy relationships, the health effects of violence, and resources, regardless of screening or disclosures of violence. 
• Displaying trauma-informed information and tools for patients and providers to view, use, or reference.
• Describing the steps of physical exams with patients of every age and asking permission to continue at each step.
• Working with your administration to develop and implement trauma-informed policy and procedures to promote prevention and respond to disclosures of violence if they don’t already exist.
• Becoming familiar with healthcare, reporting, and parental consent laws, and communicating openly with patients about them.
• Ensuring a private space and time with just the patient and provider, for at least a portion of the visit, to allow time for patients to discuss issues privately.
• Considering experiences of violence when offering treatment or building care plans for patients, including reproductive health.
• Connecting with a local survivor advocacy organization for support to cross-train staff and facilitate referrals for victims/survivors.

Additional resources for healthcare professionals: Assessing Patients for Sexual Violence: A Guide for Health Care Providers

More Ways to Get Involved

Green Dot

A number of survivor advocacy organizations across the state have established Green Dot programs. Green Dot is a national curriculum that uses a bystander approach, teaching people in communities how to safely step in and stop violence, and how to prevent it from happening again. Over time, the goal is to make taking action to prevent violence a normal part of community life, not something rare.

Sexual Violence Prevention Collective

Coordinated by the Nebraska Coalition, the Sexual Violence Prevention (SVP) Collective is a working group comprised community members who hold knowledge in the areas of sexual and domestic violence, sexual health care, mental health, refugee and immigration services, higher education, and advocacy.