Photograph from the American Psychological Association
Every ninety-two seconds an American is sexually assaulted, people aged 12-34 are at the highest risk for rape and sexual assault, and 13 percent of women who are raped attempt suicide, according to the website for RAINN, the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network. Victims of sexual violence are more likely to develop PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), depression, alcohol and drug use, and decreased safer sex practices, according to an article in the New England Journal of Medicine.
While the Me Too Movement has raised awareness of the severity of sexual harassment and assault in the United States, a Nov. 2018 article for the World Economic Forum argues that in the year since the movement began victim blaming has actually increased among both men and women. In fact, “women are more reluctant to come forward” with allegations of sexual assault, according to Tanya Asim Cooper, director of the Pepperdine School of Law’s Restoration and Justice Clinic.
Additionally, even though since the Me Too Movement began, “elected officials passed 261 laws that directly addressed topics championed by the movement,” this was only slightly higher than the previous year’s 238, according to a Nov. 2018 article by USA Today. Few laws have actually removed the barriers “for victims to report and seek justice or increased the accountability for perpetrators and employers,” according to Cara Kelly and Aaron Hegarty.
In 2014, the White House launched the “It’s On US” campaign to end sexual assault, focusing on training surrounding consent and bystander intervention. Bystander intervention programs aim to teach students to recognize potentially dangerous or risky situations and to intervene to stop others from committing an assault or being assaulted, according to a Sep. 2015 article in Huffpost.
Examples of Bystander Intervention Campaigns (from Missoula’s Intervention in Action Program)
A year after the program’s launch, however, the Huffington Post reported that 54.5 percent of students had done nothing when they “saw someone acting in a sexually violent or harassing manner, according to Tyler Kingkade. Researchers emphasized that such trainings need to be administered early on (as first year college students are at the highest risk for sexual assault), and revisited over time in order to ensure continued application.
Others argue, however, that bystander interventions or programs that target men directly show no solid evidence of reducing the rate at which men commit such crimes, according to an August 2018 article by Edward Siddons of apolitical. Siddons argues that bystander intervention programs have low returns while 1 in 5 women in the U.S. are still being raped during their lives. In a study conducted at Columbia University, one year after a mandatory bystander intervention training program was enacted, more than half the students surveyed still failed to intervene in sexually violent encounters, and more than two thirds failed to act when witnessing an intoxicated person heading for a sexual encounter, according to a November 2016 article by Cauveri Suresh.
Effects of Bystander Intervention Training at Columbia University after 1 Year
In fact, according to a research article published in the journal, Aggression and Violent Behavior, none of the bystander intervention programs studied were classified as effective for sexual violence behavioral outcomes. Some were even considered to be potentially harmful in attempts to reduce sexual violence.
Siddons and other researchers argue therefore that self defense is the “only sexual violence prevention strategy with solid evidence of effectiveness at reducing rates of victimization.” In particular, programs like Empowerment Self Defence (ESD) emphasizes not only how to physically repel an attacker, but also includes training in assertiveness, consent, and de-escalation. It also teaches women to identify and deflect sexually coercive and predatory behavior, according to a Jun. 2015 article by Tamara Straus. This is particularly important as Siddons argues that the majority of rapes occur among acquaintances rather than as sneak attacks by strangers. Additionally, while traditional self defense classes and martial arts practices were developed by men for men’s bodies and require years of training, ESD was created to address male on female violence within a short training period, and has classes led by female trainers, according to the ESD global website.
Women Learning Empowerment Self Defense Techniques (Photo from ESD Global)
Studies in the US, Canada and Kenya found that ESD programs correlated with significantly fewer assaults compared to control groups, according to Siddons. The nonprofit organization No Means No Worldwide’s ESD program was found to result in 52 percent of participants deflecting assault through defense techniques, leading to the program being instituted citywide in Nairobi among high school females, according to Straus. Other research has found that the cost of self defense training is significantly lower than treatment following sexual assault, and can even be healing to survivors of sexual violence, according to ESD Global.
Similar to ESD is the EAAA or Enhanced Assess, Acknowledge, Act – Sexual Assault Resistance Program. This program, which has since been instituted for first year female university students in Canada, was initiated as The Sexual Assault Resistance Education (SARE) Trial, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study followed first year students who either attended Sexual Assault Training sessions or control sessions. Training sessions included assessment of danger, overcoming emotional barriers to resistance, education on sexual terms, activities, and safe sex practices, as well as self defense instruction, according to Charlene Senn, one of the study’s leaders. The control group received sexual assault brochures common to university campuses. After a year of follow up, the study found the incidence of both attempted and completed rape were significantly lower in the study group than in the control group. Similar results were found for incidences of nonconsensual sexual contact and attempted coercion.
(Based on data from article in the New England Journal of Medicine)
With such impressive results, it may seem surprising that self defense training for women is not more widespread, especially on college campus where women aged 18-24 are 3 times more likely than women in general to experience sexual violence according to Rainn. Critics, however, argue that teaching women self defense to prevent sexual violence is a form of victim blaming and does not cause societal and structural change. Additionally, some argue that physical resistance may put women at risk of further injury or death during an attempted assault, according to Siddons.
Others, however, argue that self defense is not a replacement for institutional change but helps protect women during the slow process of legislation, and that it is still better than programs which tell women not to go out at night or drink and instead allows them to live their lives more freely. Jocelyn Hollander of the University of Oregon argues in a 2018 paper that resistance reduces rape by up to 87 percent. Hollander also states that self defense training will increase women’s empowerment and assertiveness at all times, which will support social change. Hollander and others agree that programs like Empowerment Self Defense should be instituted, not only at the college level but also among junior high and high school students as one in nine girls is assaulted before the age of 18. Others argue further that it is irresponsible to deny women access to a program which is proven to reduce sexual assault just because it puts the onus for prevention on victims, according to Erin Anderssen in her Jun. 2015 article for The Globe and Mail.
Pepperdine University is one of few schools taking responsibility for training students to prevent sexual assault both on and off campus, according to Kevin Lewis who runs Pepperdine’s student trainings. For over ten years, Pepperdine has worked with Covered 6, a California based company which provides tactical training for law enforcement, military, legal, community, and corporate security, as well as firearms and medical training according to its website.
Covered 6 initially worked with Pepperdine to implement a Women’s Self Defense program through the Student Counseling Center. After success with this program, Pepperdine’s International Programs office initiated the ADAPT Program to train students getting ready to study abroad. The program, which stands for Awareness and Defense Against Physical Threats, combines awareness training with basic self defense techniques, according to Covered 6 Director of Training, Kevin Lewis. Covered 6 is also working with Pepperdine sororities to put on self defense and awareness programs in the near future.
ADAPT Training sponsored by International Programs Office (Photo from Covered 6)
While the ADAPT program is not specifically geared toward empowerment like ESD, Lewis argues that “all training is going to help empower somebody.” Although the program teaches techniques to defend oneself against an attack, Lewis sees the training as more preventative, hoping that “if people are more aware they tend to not end up getting into those situations.”
In contrast to criticism that self defense programs place the responsibility for preventing assault on women, Lewis feels that Pepperdine “is being very smart in taking the responsibility to prepare a program like this,” because many other colleges and universities do not, leaving defense to the individual which does little to prevent assault. Lewis argues for a proactive approach like that of Pepperdine’s which focuses on human predatory behavior rather than blame.
When asked why more schools haven’t instituted targeted self defense training programs, Lewis called it “the head in the sand mentality,” with schools refusing to recognize the issue of sexual assault in order to avoid taking responsibility for dealing with the problem.
Self Defense classes emphasize techniques including eye gouging, groin kicks, and escaping sleeper holds (Photo from Fearless and Female Self Defense)
Greg Muger of Pepperdine’s International Programs office argues that the ADAPT training is one of the most popular sessions during orientation for study abroad. He feels that part of the program’s success involves giving students more self confidence and that it is hands-on and practical in a way that really reaches students.
When asked whether he agreed with critics of self defense training that it puts the responsibility on women to defend themselves rather than on men to not assault women, Muger says, “both men and women are victims of assault… so we offer the training to both men and women in the hopes that they can protect themselves and in addition, help others and share that information with others.” “Its a both/and situation,” adds Muger, “prevention and getting training to defend yourself.”
In order for such programs to be truly successful, however, researchers like Hollander argue that society needs to change its perspective on women as submissive and meek or dependant on men for protection. She also emphasizes that self defense training is by no means the only answer to the epidemic of sexual assault and rape, but that it is the most immediately effective method.
Additional efforts needed to reverse the rape culture pervasive in our society require parents, educators, the media, the legislature, and law enforcement agencies to support women, whether by teaching consent, featuring more strong female characters, ensuring access to support services for survivors of sexual assault, and removing time limits for filing criminal or civil charges in such cases. The CDC also argues that providing educational and career opportunities to women and girls creates empowerment that can further promote a more equal society less conducive to sexual violence.
Infographic from the CDC
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and the hashtag #SAAM has been used nearly ten thousand times in the week between April 2 and April 9, 2019, with a potential impact of over 51 million views, according to Tweet Binder. Clearly, sexual assault is a trending topic, but it remains to be seen how schools and governments will respond to this continuing crisis.
Data From Tweet Binder
Until our society creates sweeping changes in how sexual assault is prosecuted and how men are raised and women are treated, though, advocates for self defense training continue to argue that women must take sexual violence prevention into their own hands, or more likely, fists.
Yasmin Kazeminy 