Rigorous Evaluation of the READY to Stand Curriculum as a Tool to Prevent the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children Among Racially and Ethnically Diverse Urban Youth (PHASE III: Quasi Experimental Trial)
University of Michigan
Summary
The overall goal of the five-year project is to conduct both a process and rigorous outcome evaluation of The Set Me Free Project (SMFP)'s READY to Stand (RTS)© curriculum with an eye toward widespread dissemination to other U.S. communities, if deemed effective. Broadly, the investigators seek to determine the effect participation has on students: reductions in commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) perpetration (the primary outcome); reductions in CSEC victimization, teen dating violence (TDV), and sexual violence victimization and perpetration; as well as increases in bystander intervention in CSEC situations compared to participants in the control condition (secondary outcomes).
Description
The commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) is a public health crisis in the United States. Research has documented risk and protective factors across the social ecology for CSEC, that many perpetrators (traffickers, clients, recruiters) of CSEC are peers (e.g., romantic partners) and adolescents report opportunities to intervene in situations of peer victimization (although not necessarily specific to CSEC). Prevention efforts with adolescents that seek to (1) reduce risk for CSEC perpetration; (2) reduce risk for CSEC victimization; and (3) increase positive bystander intervention…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 13–21 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria: * enrolled in in Grade 9, 10, 11, or 12 at one of the eligible schools in the district * able to understand spoken English Exclusion Criteria: • enrolled in either of the two schools involved in the corresponding Open Pilot Trial (NCT05988398)
Interventions
- BehavioralThe Set Me Free Project's (SMFP) READY to Stand (RTS)© Curriculum
Students will receive the Ready to Stand (RTS)© programming over six school days, spread over six weeks. The program is delivered in mixed-gender groups of 20 to 40 students and includes videos, small and large group discussions, activities, worksheets, and ample opportunities for skill-building. This curriculum is intended to be one piece of comprehensive prevention strategies that has the potential to make immediate and sustained impacts on reducing rates of CSEC perpetration in the lives of youth, including those most vulnerable to this pernicious crime.
Location
- [school districts in the Midwest]Des Moines, Iowa