Following the latest news in the press regarding the increased number of college girls who have been victims of a rape, many of them have started to look for protective measures against such a horrific assault.
Thus, an intensive training program that teaches female college students how to protect themselves has been extremely successful and reduced their chances of being raped by about 50 percent throughout the following year.
The study analyzed the effects of the intensive training in comparison to the effect of informative brochures on sexual assault. The training was far more effective than the leaflets and drastically reduced the risk of experiencing a rape.
This research, which is the first one published in a journal of medicine, was carried out after colleges and universities all over the nation were requested to submit reports in which they should detail how they dealt with sexual assault.
It was estimated that about 20 percent of college students are victims of these types of attacks that are usually carried out by people the women know quite well – dates or classmates.
The lack of monitoring and the access to alcohol and drugs for male students are also causes for the prevalence of sexual assaults against sophomore or freshman women.
The lead author of the study, Charlene Y. Senn stated that women’s need to be accepted in the society and be regarded as friendly and likable also makes them less aware of the danger they are facing of being assaulted.
This is why she devised a program that could help these women recognize a dangerous situation and learn how to protect themselves from it. The course taught the trainees how to use their skills to reject or rebuff potential sexual assaults.
The young women were also taught how to physically defend themselves during the three-hour sessions. Their training was based on Wen-Do, type of martial art.
The outcome was very good and hopefully, more women will benefit from such useful training that will prevent them from becoming victims of sexual aggression.
The results of the study were published on Wednesday, the 10th of June, in the New England Journal of Medicine.
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