SART Peers
The Sexual Assault Resource Team (SART) Peers Program has been preventing sexual assault and sexual harassment among youth for over 25 years in northern Colorado.
This peer education program utilizes the enthusiasm, talent and credibility of high school student leaders to inform youth about sexual violence. Presenters work to not only raise awareness and knowledge about sexual violence, but to increase support for survivors and create a safer school culture.
The foundational 90-minute high school SART presentation is integrated into the high school curriculum with the intention of reaching every student while in high school.
The trained high school peer educators also go into their feeder middle schools to engage with middle school students about this important topic in a supportive and developmentally appropriate way.
Presentation topics include:
- What is sexual harassment and
sexual assault? - Myths and facts about sexual violence
- Consent/Communication
- Victim Blaming
- How to Get Help or Help a Friend
- Being an Upstander
Listen to SART Peer Educators talk about what the SART Peers program means to them!
Student comments
after presentations:
“I learned about the difference between harassment and assault and how you can support people who have been affected by it.”
“The most important thing I learned is consent, and I now feel more confident talking about it and discussing what consent is with others.”
“It’s better to talk about it. It’s never the victim’s fault.”
“I learned what I can do if someone is pushing me to do something I don’t want to do.”
“I also think that having peers teach us about this is important and I think that it’s cool that other kids understand how important this is and want to educate other kids on it as well”.
“There are tangible things we can do to prevent sexual assault in our community”.
The SART Peers program began as a community collaboration in Poudre School District over two decades ago.
SAVA has been collaborating with Poudre School District for many years to sustain and grow the program through this committed partnership.
What began as a pilot program in one high school now reaches thousands of students, parents, staff, Spanish-speaking individuals, and community members every year.
SAVA expanded the SART Peers program to Weld County school districts in 2014 and is working to continue expanding throughout northern Colorado every year.