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Martial Arts Training Reduces Likelihood of Being Raped by 46% Study Finds

Martial Arts Training Reduces Likelihood of Being Raped by 46% Study Finds

Last year New England Journal of Medicine published an interesting study.The aim of study was to estimate how effective “Enhanced Assess Acknowledge Act Sexual Assault Resistance Program” (further refereed to as EAAA) is.

This program basically consisted of sessions of 3 hours during which the participants were provided information, skills and practice to assess risk from acquaintances, to overcome emotional barriers in acknowledging danger and to engage in effective verbal and physical self-defense as well as helping them explore their own sexual values, desires boundaries and rights.

Their results were fairly spectacular. EAAA program participants experienced 46% fewer sexual assaults and as much as 64% fewer attempted sexual assaults than in the control group. From close to 900 women who participated in this study about 5 percent of those who attended EAAA reported incidents while the control group reported close to twice as much.

This boils down to this stunning statement:

“…enrolling 22 women in the EAAA resistance program would prevent one additional rape from occurring.”

This is the first study to show positive outcomes that last beyond a month or so post study participation.

 

Author of this journal entry, Dr. Senn says young women are at a higher risk of being sexually assaulted, primarily by male acquaintances, and that any reduction in these numbers would result in a substantial improvement in their mental and physical health. Dr. Senn also said:

“What this shows us is that, while we wait for effective programs for men or for cultural shifts in attitudes to happen, there is something practical we can do to give young women the tools they need to better protect themselves from sexual assault”

While these results aren’t methodologically entirely there – it’s certainly quite positive to see such a short intense program providing results.

literature:
Senn, C, Eliasziw, M, Barata, P, Thurston, W, Newby-Clark, I, Radtke, H, & Hobden, K 2015, ‘Efficacy of a Sexual Assault Resistance Program for University Women’, New England Journal Of Medicine, 372, 24, p. 2326, MasterFILE Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 26 June 2016.