At Prevention Institute, our vision is that all people experience their full potential for health, safety, and wellbeing across the life course through thriving, equitable communities. Safety allows people to thrive and live fulfilling lives—it is freedom from violence and the threat of violence. Our work addresses multiple forms of violence (e.g., school, community, intimate partner, sexual assault, and child abuse and exploitation) and the relationships between them.

Violence is preventable, not inevitable. There is a strong and growing evidence base, grounded in research and experiential practitioner and community evidence that supports this fact. Changing the underlying conditions that contribute to violence—in homes, schools, and neighborhoods—prevents violence from occurring in the first place.

Prevention Institute engages leaders from housing, healthcare, and multiple other sectors at the local, state, and national levels and cultivates a systems approach to prevention that reduces the need for criminal justice intervention. Recognizing violence as a crucial prevention issue for health and equity, Prevention Institute has made a major commitment to helping cities devise comprehensive plans and strategies for reducing and preventing multiple forms of violence. By cultivating communities of practice such as UNITY (Urban Networks to Increase Thriving Youth through Violence Prevention) and Safety Through Connection, supporting policy and systems change, and providing strong technical assistance, Prevention Institute catalyzes momentum for safety.

Safety > Content Buckets
Safety > Content Buckets
Safety > Content Buckets
Safety > Content Buckets

This policy brief presents the distilled research and critical thinking of a diverse group of local and national experts in the field of child sexual abuse and exploitation. Prevention Institute assembled this team and coordinated their efforts with the generous funding and support of the Ms. Foundation for Women. This brief focuses on strategies that hold the greatest promise for transforming communities and preventing child abuse and exploitation.

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The UNITY RoadMap is a resource for cities to prevent violence before it occurs by mapping out solutions to effectively and sustainably prevent violence. The UNITY RoadMap 1) helps cities understand the current status of their efforts (starting point), 2) describes the core elements necessary to prevent violence before it occurs (milestones), and 3) provides information, resources, and examples to support cities in planning, implementation, and evaluation. As a framework, the UNITY RoadMap is most effective when tailored to the needs of a particular city. Browse the online version of the UNITY

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