Using on-line technologies to build capacity to prevent violence against women

Innovations in technology have created new communication opportunities and challenges to disseminate information and activities to promote best public health practices. One example of this is Prevention Connection, California Coalition Against Sexual Assault's use of on-line technologies, including interactive web conferencing, wiki, podcasts and other state-of –the art technology to prevent violence against women. Prevention Connection goes beyond offering trainings and storing information; the project acts as a social networking site to strength the community of practitioners whom advance primary prevention of violence against women.

Prevention Connection” The Violence Against Women Prevention Partnership" is an on-line national project of the Division of Violence Prevention in the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions Injury Center. Through the use of interactive web technology it acts as a network for public health practitioners from national, state, and local health departments, and for domestic violence and sexual violence prevention advocates to assess practices to promote safer and healthier environments for women across the United States.

Since March 2005, Prevention Connection has been collecting evaluation data on how to improve its outreach efforts through the web and using this to make its use of web technology as effective as possible to respond to the public health issue of violence against women in the United States. The evaluation data highlights what makes web technology work for different audiences and how to incorporate new technology into web conferencing.