Training can deter sex assault, study shows

Program gives women tools to better protect themselves

Educating young women on how to detect and respond to the risk of sexual violence can significantly reduce the risk of rape, a new study shows.

The study details the success of a program designed by a professor at the University of Windsor that teaches participants to assess, acknowledge and detect danger, as well as use verbal and physical aggression in high-risk situations. The results have been published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

“What this shows us is that, while we wait for effective programs for men or for cultural shifts in attitudes to happen, there is something practical we can do to give young women the tools they need to better protect themselves from sexual assault,” study lead Charlene Senn, a professor of psychology and women’s studies at Windsor, wrote in a release.

Senn stressed that women are never responsible for avoiding or defending against a sexual assault. But the study found that university-aged women are “at a substantial risk for being sexually assaulted, primarily by male acquaintances,” and strategies to reduce risk must be put in place.

The authors define rape as oral, vaginal or anal penetration involving threats, force or incapacitation because of drugs and alcohol.

During the four-year study, Senn’s team of researchers tracked 893 first-year female students, ages 17 to 24. The volunteers were randomly split into two groups. The first half received brochures about rape and the rest took Senn’s program.

A year later, the trained group reported 46 per cent fewer rapes and 63 per cent fewer attempted rapes.