Building Master Trainers to Facilitate Sexual Violence Prevention: A Pilot Study in Ghana

Sexual violence is a widespread human rights violation that affects women and girls throughout the world, with particularly high rates among college-age youth. In the United States, many universities have developed primary prevention education programs to comply with federal mandates; however, these programs are limited in sub-Saharan Africa.

The purpose of this pilot study is to describe and evaluate the training of peer facilitators for a sexual violence prevention program at two universities in Ghana; the University of Cape Coast and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.

A three-day "master trainer" training was held focusing on sexual violence, sexual health, bias, healthy relationships, and facilitation skills. Participants completed pre- and post-test evaluations on knowledge, attitudes, and skills related to the topics and participants from the University of Cape Coast also participated in a focus group about bias and self-care.

Participants (n = 23) at both universities demonstrated significant changes in the domains of: self-care knowledge, sexual violence knowledge, rape myth acceptance, and facilitation skills.

This study provides early evidence about training methods for primary prevention programs aimed at students on university campuses in sub-Saharan Africa. Further research is needed on peer-facilitation, training, and primary prevention programs related to sexual violence for university students in sub-Saharan Africa.