Effectiveness of a Sexual Assault Self-defense Program for American Indian Girls

Abstract

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a 6-session (12-hour) empowerment self-defense classroom delivered curriculum (i.e., IMpower) among American Indian girls. Girls ( N = 74) in one middle school and two high schools on an Indian Reservation in the Great Plains region of the United States received the intervention and completed a pre-test and a post-test six months following the final program session. The surveys administered assessed hypothesized intermediary (i.e., efficacy to resist a sexual assault, self-defense knowledge), primary (i.e., sexual violence victimization), and secondary (i.e., physical dating violence, sexual harassment) outcomes. Native American girls ( N = 181) in five middle schools and three high schools in a nearby city where there was no sexual assault prevention occurring completed surveys assessing sexual violence, physical dating violence, and sexual harassment victimization approximately six months apart, thus serving as a comparison to girls in the treatment condition on primary and secondary outcomes. Girls exposed to the IMpower program reported significant increases over time in efficacy to resist a sexual assault and knowledge of effective resistance strategies. Furthermore, propensity score analyses suggested that girls who received the IMpower program reported significantly fewer types of sexual assault and sexual harassment at follow-up compared to girls in the control condition. However, no effect was found for physical dating violence. These data suggest that empowerment self-defense is a promising approach in preventing sexual assault and sexual harassment among American Indian girls.

Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Sexual Harassment Victimization Among Girls on an Indian Reservation: An Examination of Rates and Risk and Protective Factors

“…These data are part of a pilot non-randomized clinical trial to evaluate a rape prevention program on an Indian Reservation in the Great Plains (U.S.) (Edwards et al, 2021). These baseline data were collected in the fall of 2018 prior to the implementation of the intervention.…”

“…Efficacy to resist a potential attacker may also reduce the risk for experiencing DV such that efficacy to resist a SA may represent higher levels of assertiveness and conflict resolution skills, which research suggests is related to lower levels of DV (Joseph & Kuperminc, 2020). Regarding SH, research suggests that feminist empowerment self-defense programs not only reduce SA but can reduce SH as well (Edwards et al, 2021). It is possible that girls who have higher levels of efficacy to resist a SA (a potential proxy for assertiveness skills) may be more likely to stop harassment by verbally challenging it which, in turn, may make them less likely to be targets of SH than girls who have less efficacy to resist a SA (Decker et al, 2018;Sarnquist et al, 2014).…”

Using photovoice to understand and amplify youth voices to prevent sexual and relationship violence

“…Although perpetrators are always responsible for all acts of SRV, youth in this study, along with Native youth in other research (Edwards et al, under review; Siller et al, under review), believe that an important part of fostering healthy relationships is helping youth, especially girls, to recognize situations of SRV, assert their needs in those situations, and recognize that they are worth living lives free of SRV. This aligns more with secondary prevention for at‐risk groups as well as a strengths‐based harm reduction and resistance approach described also in work by Senn et al (2015) that recognizes that until perpetrators are stopped, we need to support those who are at risk for harm to keep them as safe as possible and support their well‐being while broader social change to end violence is enacted.…”

“…What might we be missing in how we are framing SRV prevention that may not be currently resonating with them? This may be especially important in communities with a large presence of Native youth for which we know very little about effective SRV prevention (Edwards et al, in press; Edwards et al, under review). PAR methods are those that involve participants as decision‐makers who collaborate with researchers on all parts of a project.…”

Using intergenerational photovoice to understand family strengths among Native American children and their caregivers

“…It is also important to note that many of the themes that emerged regarding family strengths have been stated as possible strategies to prevent ACEs (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Prevention., 2019; Edwards et al, 2021). The themes that emerged in the current photovoice project align with other quantitative research finding the connection to Lakota culture and Lakota cultural identity as a protective factor for youth and family resilience (Edwards et al, 2021; Freeman et al, 2016) Another limitation is that we also had only mothers and grandmothers participate, although we welcomed other caregivers. Future research would benefit from engaging Native fathers and grandfathers in this type of work as well as caregivers who are Two‐Spirit or other gender diverse/trans identities.…”