We’ve released a lot of new tools over the past year to support advocates in their work with male survivors of sexual assault. We want you to use these tools for individual and collective learning, so we designed a sample curriculum.
The curriculum is organized around the Working with Male Survivors online toolkit, especially the assessment tool Assessing Our Capacity for Serving Male Survivors of Sexual Violence. The curriculum has six sessions. Each of the middle four sessions call for participants to start by completing reflection prompts and questions. The sessions then go on to include reading some publications, listening to episodes from our Working with Male Survivors podcast series, discussing with your group, and planning next steps.
The outline below is designed to be flexible. You might decide to use this as a two-day training, doing three sessions each day. You might meet over the course of six weeks to work on one session per week. Or you might determine something else entirely that suits your group.
Each session could take between two and three hours — including the journaling, reading, and listening you’ll do to prepare for group work. It could take longer if your group decides to spend more time digging into the material. Discuss up front what would work best for your group and do what makes the most sense for you.
We’re available to help. Reach out to us at resources@nsvrc.org as you need support. Have fun!
Sample Curriculum
Session One: In this session, your group will plan how you want to work together. You’ll also review and discuss some introductory materials
- Plan: How will your group organize itself? Will you meet online, in person, or both? Will you have one facilitator, or will you share facilitation responsibilities? Will someone bring snacks? Will you do reading and listening work together, or will you come prepared to discuss reading and listening that you’ve done on your own? How will you commit to action?
- Read: Introduction section of Assessing Our Capacity for Serving Male Survivors of Sexual Violence
- Read: Working with Male Survivors of Sexual Violence webpage
- Review: How often are men sexually harassed or assaulted? infographic
- Listen: Working with Male Survivors: Understanding Expressions of Trauma for Men podcast (26 minutes)
- Discuss: What did you learn from the reading and listening in this section? What is one thing you learned from this session that you will apply to your work?
- Bonus: Explore the Additional Resources section of the webpage, and read one article or watch one video.
Session Two: In this session, your group will consider socialization and how it impacts male survivors of sexual violence.
- Journal: Complete Section 1: Understanding Male Socialization, Stigma, and Reactions to Sexual Violence of Assessing Our Capacity for Serving Male Survivors of Sexual Violence
- Read: Understanding Male Socialization, Stigma, and Reactions to Sexual Violence webpage
- Review: Who are male survivors of sexual harassment and assault? infographic
- Listen: Working with Male Survivors: How Sexual Assault Impacts Transgender Men – Part 1 podcast (35 minutes) or Working with Male Survivors: Talking to Men with Disabilities About Sexual Assault podcast (56 minutes)
- Share: Your responses to the assessment prompts
- Discuss: What did you learn from the reading and listening in this section? What aspects of male socialization impact men’s reactions to sexual victimization? What is one thing you learned from this session that you will apply to your work?
- Bonus: Explore the Additional Resources section of the webpage, and read one article or watch one video.
Session Three: In this session, your group will reflect on communication and outreach strategies for letting people know that your program is there for male survivors of sexual violence.
- Journal: Complete Section 2: Reaching and Engaging Male Survivors of Assessing Our Capacity for Serving Male Survivors of Sexual Violence
- Read: Reaching and Engaging Male Survivors of Sexual Violence webpage
- Read: How We Talk About Working with Male Survivors of Sexual Assault, Harassment, and Abuse
- Listen: Working with Male Survivors: When Reaching Male Survivors, Consider Your Program’s Name podcast (25 minutes) or Working with Male Survivors: Reaching Male Survivors Through Storytelling podcast (38 minutes)
- Share: Your responses to the assessment prompts
- Discuss: What did you learn from the reading and listening in this section? What strategies can you use to reach male survivors of sexual violence? What is one thing you learned from this session that you will apply to your work?
- Bonus: Explore the Additional Resources section of the webpage, and read one article or watch one video.
Session Four: In this session, your group will explore the importance of partnerships for supporting male survivors of sexual violence, and map out partnerships you can make in your service area.
- Journal: Complete Section 3: Creating Partnerships in Your Local Communities to Support Male Survivors of Assessing Our Capacity for Serving Male Survivors of Sexual Violence
- Read: Creating Partnerships in Your Local Communities to Support Male Survivors webpage
- Read: Sexual Victimization of Men: What the Research Says annotated bibliography
- Listen: Working with Male Survivors: Economic Barriers Behind Bars podcast (34 minutes) or Working with Male Survivors: Accessing Support After Incarceration podcast (27 minutes)
- Share: Your responses to the assessment prompts
- Discuss: What did you learn from the reading and listening in this section? What organizations can you form new partnerships with to better serve male survivors of sexual violence? What is one thing you learned from this session that you will apply to your work?
- Bonus: Read the additional resource from this webpage, or read the blog series related to the Lessons on Serving Male Survivors Through Sexual Assault Services Program publication.
Session Five: In this session, your group will think about what healing services look like for male survivors of sexual violence.
- Journal: Complete Section 4: Sexual Assault Services that Support Healing for Male Survivors of Assessing Our Capacity for Serving Male Survivors of Sexual Violence
- Read: Sexual Assault Services that Support Healing for Male Survivors webpage
- Read: Lessons on Serving Male Survivors Through Sexual Assault Services Program
- Listen: Working with Male Survivors: Using an Empowerment Model in Detention podcast (55 minutes), Working with Male Survivors: Successful Counseling Approaches for Your Incarcerated Clients podcast (41 minutes), Working with Male Survivors: How Sexual Assault Impacts Transgender Men – Part 2 podcast (41 minutes), or Working with Male Survivors: What Support Do Advocates Need? podcast (40 minutes)
- Share: Your responses to the assessment prompts
- Discuss: What did you learn from the reading and listening in this section? How effectively do your services support men in healing from sexual trauma? What is one thing you learned from this session that you will apply to your work?
- Bonus: Explore the Additional Resources section of the webpage, and read one article or watch one video.
Session Six: In this session, your group will reflect on what you worked on in the previous sessions, and plan for the future.
- Read: Your journal responses to the prompts in Assessing Our Capacity for Serving Male Survivors of Sexual Violence from throughout this series
- Listen: Working with Male Survivors: Healing at Sexual Assault Centers and Beyond podcast (53 minutes)
- Discuss: What did you learn from the reading and listening in this section? What is one thing you learned from this session that you will apply to your work?
- Plan: How will you use the learning from this series in your work? How will you use your collective responses to the organizational assessment prompts? What goals will you set to improve your program’s work with male survivors of sexual violence? What training, resources, and support do you still need, and where can you access those?
- Plan: When will your group revisit Assessing Our Capacity for Serving Male Survivors of Sexual Violence to mark your progress and adjust your goals?
- Plan: Get in touch with us at resources@nsvrc.org for support in your next steps.
- Evaluate: Each person in your group should complete this evaluation.
- Bonus: Listen to the remaining episodes of the Working with Male Survivors podcast series.