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., <i>IMpower</i>) among American Indian girls. Girls (<i>N</i> = 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 (<i>N</i> = 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 <i>IMpower</i> 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 <i>IMpower</i> 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.