On Course for Consent: A Pilot Study Evaluating a Sexual Violence Prevention Program for High School Students
Résumé
Introduction Sexual violence prevention through comprehensive education remains inconsistent in French schools despite mandatory affective and sexual education implementation since 2001. In alignment with 2025 policy reforms, we developed Cap consentement (CapCons), a structured three-session prevention program targeting key psychosocial variables associated with sexually coercive behavior. This pilot study evaluated its effectiveness in comparison to a less structured intervention. Methods A total of 779 high school students participated in a controlled pre-test/post-test evaluation. The experimental group (n = 540) received the structured CapCons program, while the control group (n = 239) received a non-structured intervention. Five key variables were assessed: rape myth acceptance, behavioral intentions toward sexually coercive behavior, sexual violence knowledge, understanding of sexual consent, and self-efficacy in sexual communication. Results Post-intervention analyses revealed significant positive changes on multiple variables in the CapCons group and the control group. Importantly, no boomerang effects were observed among participants identified as at-risk for perpetrating sexual violence, confirming the program’s safety profile. Conclusions CapCons demonstrates promise as an effective sexual violence prevention tool for French adolescents. Both structured and less structured approaches showed efficacy when delivered by trained facilitators, though the structured program showed broader impact for higher risk profiles. Policy Implications These findings support broader implementation of evidence-based sexual violence prevention programs in French schools. The program’s manual-guided design enables scalable delivery while maintaining quality, addressing current gaps in sexual violence prevention implementation.
