College Rape Program Decreased Risk by 50%

Rape is a very serious issue in the United States. Anonymous reports on multi-campus surveys sampling thousands of college students nationwide show that at least 5% of women on college campuses experience rape or attempted rape every year. Every year in the United States, 1,270,000 women experience rape. One in four women have reported surviving or attempted rate and it's estimated that roughly 68% of rape cases go unreported. 

A new program aimed at helping college women avoid rape reduced the risk of rape by nearly 50 percent during participants’ freshman year, a new study finds. The program titled the Enhanced Assess, Acknowledge, Act Sexual Assault Resistance program has several components. It aims to help women identify situations where there is a high risk for sexual violence. The program also aims at assisting women in their thinking when it comes to sexual assault and increase their ability to defend themselves. 

The study evaluated three universities in Canada that took part in a rape resistance program which consisted of four 3-hour sessions that included lectures, discussions or rape prevention. They studied 400 women in these universities and a second group of 400 women were offered brochures with general information about sexual assault. The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. 

• 9% of women in the brochure group reported an attempted rape compared to 3.4% of women who participated in the program.

This study proves that providing women with knowledge and tools increases their ability to defend themselves in a situation like this and even reduce the severity of sexual violence they experience. This is one of the first study's of a college sexual assault program and this new program is so far the only one to demonstrate that it can decrease instances of sexual violence that women experience for at least a year.