A program that trained first-year female college students to prevent rape considerably lowered their risk of being sexually assaulted.
As a result of a program that taught college women techniques to avoid sexual assault cut in half the probabilities they'd be raped over the next year, a Canadian study noted. According to experts, the first large, scientific test of resistance training, and the strong results should trigger more universities to offer it.
Five percent of freshman women who underwent the four-session program said they had been raped during the following year, as opposed to 10 percent of others who were simply given brochures on assault prevention. Moreover, attempted rapes were also lower, about 3 percent in the training group as compared to more than 9 percent of the others, according to records on ABC News.
"Only 22 women would need to take the program in order to prevent one additional rape from occurring within one year," the authors said.
A distinguished researcher on sex assault with no role in the study, University of Arizona psychologist Mary Koss noted that the results were indeed "startling."
"Universities should move right away to figure out how they can implement a program like this," Koss said. "We don't have to look at women as being so helpless and vulnerable. There are tools to empower women that can dramatically cut their risk of rape."
The study encompassed over 900 students, ages 17 to 24, at the universities of Windsor, Guelph and Calgary. The study was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the University of Windsor, according to the reports on AOL.
Results were published in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.
According to researchers, about 20 percent of women are sexually assaulted during their college years with the risk greatest the first year. Also, women who have been assaulted in the past are more likely to be again. About a third of the women in this study had such a history, partly contributing for the high rate of rape at one year.
Regretfully, the various rape prevention or self-defense program some universities try, have either not been tested or were tested but didn't help.
Sarah DeGue, a behavioral scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who reviewed evaluations of prevention programs for the White House Task Force on campus sexual assault, said an effective strategy could reduce risk for some victims.
However, she noted, "It's possible that potential perpetrators could encounter individuals who have received training and just move on to more vulnerable individuals."
Women In The Study Say:
"Knowing the cues, how to avoid being in situations where there can be the possibility of harm," and tips like keeping a close eye on any drinks she has at a party, were helpful. The program also stressed "it's OK to say 'no,'" Bonita Loki Teixeira, 24, now a senior at the University of Windsor said.
She added that sex is not owed if a date buys dinner.
Jenna Harris, 21, a senior at the same school, said parents and others warn about assault said, "But it's not really something you think about. This program was in your face, like, 'this is real. This stuff does happen.'"
According to recent date, 40 percent of the women who were raped were under 18, Kathleen Basile of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wrote in a commentary in the journal.
She noted, "We must start younger," and target prevention efforts at men, too."
