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Sexual Assault Crisis Hotline/ Línea de Crisis Sobre La Violencia Sexual: 303-322-7273

Community Education

What is Community Education?

At The Blue Bench, we believe that how we educate our youth today is the basis for how we, as a community, respond to sexual violence tomorrow.

Prevention education aims to stop sexual violence before it starts. This means addressing contributing factors at every level—individual, relational, community, and societal. Our Community Education programs empower people to recognize sexually inappropriate behavior, intervene in harmful situations, support survivors, and challenge harmful norms that blame, silence, or minimize survivors’ experiences.

Community Prevention Education means:
  • Recognizing that we all play a role in preventing sexual violence 
  • Identifying sexually inappropriate behavior and risky situations  
  • Identifying potentially harmful situations and encouraging appropriate interventions  
  • Teaching consent and healthy relationships from a young age 
  • Challenging victim-blaming and rape culture 
  • Responding to survivors with empathy and belief 
  • Building confidence to speak up and intervene 

Our programs are research-based, designed as multi-session offerings, and use diverse teaching methods. We tailor content to be culturally responsive and address the needs of the communities we work with. We collaborate with schools, businesses, parent groups, youth educators, service providers, alcohol-serving establishments, and more to create lasting, community-wide change.

The Blue Bench in Your Community

We're dedicated to partnering with your organization to prevent sexual violence and support survivors. Here's how we can help:

  • Expert Facilitation: Our trained Community Educators lead impactful, engaging programming.
  • Custom Programming: We tailor our sessions to fit your specific needs, audience, and time frames.
  • Helpful Resources: You'll receive take-home packets and toolkits with key information, takeaways, and materials to share with others—helping you extend prevention efforts throughout your community.
  • Support Materials: We provide resources for students and community members seeking services from The Blue Bench and other local organizations.

Community Education Programs:

  • Cannabis For Consent is a program that aims to elevate healing and cultivate prevention education among Denver's cannabis companies.

  • Through interactive discussions and practical tools, attendees will learn how to challenge harmful myths, recognize unsafe situations, support survivors, and intervene safely and effectively.

  • Let’s Talk About It is designed to equip youth with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to prevent sexual violence and build healthy relationships.

  • Safe Bars is an interactive bystander intervention training designed specifically for staff working in bars, restaurants, and other alcohol-serving establishments.

  • SHIELD is designed to help businesses foster harassment-free workplaces by equipping employees with a clear understanding of legal definitions, workplace rights and responsibilities, and the personal and organizational impacts of harassment.

  • Uniting in Action is a powerful, evidence-informed workshop designed to empower high school students to prevent sexual violence and build a culture of safety, respect, and accountability.

  • YES is an educational workshop designed to equip parents, caregivers, and professionals who work with youth with the knowledge and tools to prevent sexual violence and protect children from harm.

Our Approach

"Sexual violence can be prevented with data-driven, collaborative action."
– National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey

The Blue Bench takes a community-wide approach to prevention. This involves coordinated efforts across schools, families, organizations, and institutions to prevent violence, support survivors, and promote a culture of respect and accountability. The goal is to create a safer environment where everyone plays a role in preventing sexual violence. 

Our Community Education programs are designed for people across the lifespan, from young children to older adults. We believe prevention starts with education, and it’s never too early or too late to begin. Early conversations about body safety and consent can foster lifelong awareness, and all ages benefit from building a community that actively prevents sexual violence and effectively responds to survivors.  

Together, we can create a safer, healthier community through education, empowerment, and action. 

Why Choose The Blue Bench Curricula?

  • Developmentally Appropriate

    Tailored to meet the needs of learners at every age and stage.

  • Research-Based & Recommended

    Rooted in scientifically supported prevention approaches endorsed by the CDC and the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS, 2016).

  • Evidence- and Practice-Informed

    Grounded in proven strategies and promising practices in the field.

  • Meets Federal Recommendations

    Aligned with the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights' guidance that schools provide bystander intervention and sexual violence prevention programs.

  • DPS-Approved

    Approved by the Denver Public Schools Community Partnership Program.

  • Aligned with State Standards

    Fully supports the Colorado Department of Education’s (CDE) 2014 Health Academic Standards, specifically Standard 4: prevention and Risk Management, which focuses on building healthy, violence-free relationships.

  • Educator-Friendly

    Designed to help teachers meet multiple learning objectives and evidence outcomes within the CDE standards.

  • Expertly Facilitated

    Delivered by trained community educators with 90+ hours of professional development in facilitation, trauma-informed practices and curriculum content.

Schedule Your Next Community Education Program:

If you are part of a group or organization that could benefit from learning more about sexual assault or ways to prevent it, you can request more information through our online form below. You can also encourage your school, club, place of worship, or organization to fill out our form and schedule training from The Blue Bench's Community Education Team. 

Employees at The Blue Bench are mandated reporters. This means if there is reason to believe that a child, elder or adult with developmental disabilities is being abused, and you have given us enough information to identify (full name, address, school, phone number, etc.) the potential victim or abuser, we might have to report it to authorities. We do this for the protection of children and at-risk adults but want you to be in control of what information you choose to share.

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