- As many as 25% of women report being raped or sexually assaulted while attending college in North America.
- College acquaintances are the most common perpetrators.
- A program designed to teach college women how to assess risk, acknowledge danger, and engage in verbal and physical self-defense significantly reduced the incidence of rape and sexual assault.
- The randomized, controlled, multicenter study included nearly 900 women on 3 university campuses.
- Researchers found 46% fewer rapes and 63% fewer attempted rapes in the group that followed the training program
Women who attend college are at substantial risk of being raped or sexually assaulted. Male college friends or acquaintances are the most common perpetrators. Previous research has suggested that as many as 25% of women are raped or are victims of attempted rape while attending college.1, 2, 3, 4 Canadian researchers may have developed a significantly effective program to reduce this incidence.
The team conducted a randomized, controlled, multicenter trial that included nearly 900 women at 3 Canadian universities. The study was designed to evaluate the effects of participation in the Enhanced Assess, Acknowledge, Act (AEEE) sexual assault resistance program.
Women in the resistance group (n=451) reported a 46% reduction in the relative risk of completed rape at 1-year follow up compared to the control group (n=442) (5.2% vs. 9.8%; relative risk reduction, 46.3%; P = 0.02). The results were reported in a special article published recently in The New England Journal of Medicine.
The resistance program consisted of 4 3-hour units in which information was provided and skills were taught and practiced. The goal was to assess risk from acquaintances, overcome emotional barriers in acknowledging danger, and engage in effective verbal and physical self-defense. Women in the control group took part in a session providing access to brochures on sexual assault, as was common university practice. Instructors also helped the women “explore their own sexual values, desires, boundaries and rights,” according to the report.“One year after completing the training, 23 women in the EAAA program reported having been raped, compared to 42 in the group that browsed brochures on rape prevention,” according to an article in the Business Standard.
“Researchers found 46% fewer rapes and 63% fewer attempted rapes in the group that followed the training program,” the Business Standard reported.
"We found that the one-year risk of completed rape was significantly lower for the women in the EAAA resistance group than in the control group," Charlene Senn, PhD, told the Business Standard. The EAAA has been in development for more than a decade by Dr. Senn, Professor of Psychology in the Applied Social Psychology Program within the Department of Psychology at the University of Windsor.
