Preventing Violence Against Children: Cross-Sector Collaboration in Latin America

Presented by Andrés Villaveces, Senior Scientist, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hosted by the Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence.

This presentation highlights the lessons learned about institutional collaboration and cross-sectoral work at the national, subnational, and local levels in Latin America, that can be translated to prevention strategies in the United States.

By the end of this training, participants will: Recognize the importance of cross-sectoral partnerships in collecting and utilizing sexual violence data for prevention and response programming; Broaden their understanding of effective sexual violence prevention activities across spheres of the social-ecological model; Identify applications for the lessons learned from the implementation of and response to the Violence Against Children and Youth Survey in Colombia and Honduras in their own anti-sexual violence work; and Identify strategies for how communities develop sexual violence prevention action plans that prioritize programs and policies based on data and collective goals. Andrés Villaveces is a physician and epidemiologist with over 25 years of experience researching injuries and violence prevention. He currently works at CDC as Senior Scientist, at the Field Epidemiology and Prevention Branch leading the implementation of the Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys (VACS) in Latin America. He has worked at the World Bank, RAND Corporation, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Geneva Cantonal Hospital, Geneva Switzerland, and the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. His work on injury prevention and control includes research on violence against children, women, and youth, alcohol abuse and injuries, transportation safety, burn-related injuries, and occupational injuries. He has written several peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and policy documents addressing violence prevention, injury surveillance and prevention of unintentional injuries.