Empowerment Self-Defense Training is Sexual Assault Prevention

Much of the research published on Empowerment Self-Defense (ESD) has focused on young people in college or younger. In "Empowerment Self-Defense Training in a Community Population" Psychology of Women, Jocelyn Hollander and Jeanine Cunningham compared women who took an Empowerment Self-Defense course with a comparable group of women who did not take the course. The participants ranged in age from 18-77.  

In comparison to women who did not take an ESD course, those who did reported: 

• less sexual assault, including unwanted sexual intercourse, one year later
• greater self-defense efficacy
• more accurate knowledge about sexual assault and the possibility of resistance
• less self-silencing than those who did not take the course

Hollander and Cunningham make the case for Empowerment Self-Defense programs to be part of  comprehensive community efforts to  prevent violence against women. They make it clear that even though ESD training reduces women's risks of sexual assault, it does not mean that women are in anyway responsible for stopping or preventing violence. 

Hollander,  Jocelyn A. and Jeanine Cunningham. 2020. Empowerment self-defense training in a community population. Psychology of Women 1-16.

Rosa Parks: Sexual Assault Investigator

Rosa Parks is known for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955. That refusal was a spark for the civil rights movement in the US. 

Standing up for what was fair and just was not new to Parks. She joined the NAACP in 1943 and worked on criminal justice issues as a sexual assault investigator. She investigated claims of rape against black men by white women--working to protect black men from false accusations of rape. She was also committed to making sure that black people who were sexually assaulted by white people could seek justice.  The Rape of Recy Taylor is a film that chronicles one of the cases that Rosa Parks brought to national attention. 

For more about Rosa Parks' important work and her own experience with stopping sexual assault, check out "Before the Bus, Rosa Parks Was a Sexual Assault Investigator."

Empowerment Self-Defense Training Reduces Women's Risk of Sexual Assault

The Facts Behind the #MeToo Movement

In January 2018,  on behalf of Stop Street Harassment, Gfk conducted a nationally representative survey on sexual harassment and assault.

Some of the results found in "The Facts Behind the #MeToo Movement:"

• 81% of women and 43% of men have experienced sexual harassment and/or assault.
• 77% of women and 34% of men have experienced verbal harassment.
• 51% of women and 17% of men reported being touched or groped without their consent.
• 27% of women and 7% of men experienced sexual assault.
• Sexual harassment most often took place in a public space and was committed by strangers.
• Sexual assault most often took place in a private residence and was committed by someone known by the person assaulted.
• Women with disabilities and women who identify as lesbian and bisexual were more likely to experience sexual assault than other women.
• Men in socially marginalized groups were more likely to experience sexual harassment and assault than other men.

Some things you can do:

• Encourage someone to take an Empowerment Self-Defense program like the IMPACT Chicago Core Program
• Participate in the April 2018 Sexual Assault Awareness Month "Embrace Your Voice" Campaign
• Participate in International Anti-Street Harassment Week, April 8-14. 

Supporting a Friend Who Has Been Sexually Assaulted

In "How to be a Good Friend to a Sexual Assault Survivor" in Teen Vogue, Alisa Zipursky says:

Validate a survivor's feelings

Respect a survivor's choices about healing from the trauma

Stand with a survivor during dark and scary moments

Make it easier to give and receive support

Celebrate good moments in healing
                                                     
                                                      Check in about what works best for your friendship

Read here for Zipursky's article in Teen Vogue

What to Say If Someone Claims Women Lie About Rape

The claim that women lie about rape can pop up anywhere—a court of law or a casual neighborhood gathering. Having something specific to say about false reporting can contribute to dispelling rape myths. National Sexual Violence Research Center False Reporting has a helpful overview.

Key Points

• The majority of sexual assaults are never reported to the police.
• False reporting is estimated to be between 2 and 10 percent of cases that are reported.
• Rates of false reporting are often exaggerated because the definitions of what constitutes evidence is inconsistently defined or reflect a limited understanding of sexual assault.
• Misconceptions about false reporting negatively affect victims, contributing to why the majority of sexual assaults are never reported.
• To provide improved support for victims of sexual violence, law enforcement and service providers need an in depth understanding of sexual violence and to be consistent in their definitions, policies, and procedures. 

Researchers Seeking Reflections from Sexual Assault Survivors on Donald Trump.

From researchers Katherine Bogen and Lindsay Orchowski
We invite your reflections for an essay in the upcoming book Trumpism: The Politics of Gender in a Post-Propitious America, to be published by Cambridge Scholars in 2018, eds. Laura Finley, PhD and Matt Johnson, MA. We have approval from the Editors of this volume to prepare an essay which creates a space for sexual violence survivors to respond and react to the campaign, election, and presidency of Donald J. Trump. We envision that this essay will create a space that illustrates the ways in which survivors of sexual violence respond to and understand the candidacy, election and presidency of Donald Trump. 

We are hoping to gather responses from survivors of sexual violence (who are currently over the age of 18) that reflect on one or more of the prompts listed below. We define sexual violence broadly, to reflect any sexual act (completed or attempted) committed against someone without that person's freely given consent, at any point in the lifespan.  

Specifically: 

1. How has the candidacy, election, and presidency of Donald J. Trump made you feel?

2. How has experiencing sexual violence shaped your reaction to the candidacy, election, and presidency of Donald J. Trump? 

3. If you have found yourself feeling emotionally or psychologically impacted by Donald J. Trump’s candidacy, election, and presidency, how have you been able to cope with your reactions? Which coping mechanisms have been particularly effective? 

4. What was the experience of writing about your emotions relating to the candidacy, election, and presidency of Donald J. Trump in relation to experiences of sexual violence like for you?  

5. What recommendations would you have for other survivors of sexual violence in responding to the candidacy, election and presidency of Donald J. Trump? 

Contributors may choose to respond to one or more of the prompts.  Responses are limited to 2000 characters per question. 

Responses can be submitted anonymously via the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TrumpSurvivorNarratives

Individuals who prefer to submit their responses via email can send a word document (.doc or .docx format) to: TrumpSurvivorNarratives@gmail.com.

As Editors, we will prepare an introduction for the essay.  The anonymous responses to the aforementioned prompts will follow.  Names or other forms of identifying information will not be attached to the reflections. We do invite individuals to identify the personal characteristics (i.e., age, occupation, gender, etc.) that they would like to accompany their responses. We will also prepare a conclusion to the essay. Please note that although it is our intention to include all submitted survivor responses in the essay, the Editors of the essay will maintain the right to screen out inappropriate submissions. 

To reflect the participatory nature of this essay, we invite individuals who would like to be named as an author of this essay to contact us TrumpSurvivorNarratives@gmail.com. In this role, individuals will have the opportunity to comment on the draft, and will be included on the list of authors.  Please also note that our IRB Board considers the responses to the above questions to be a form of journalism (i.e., exempt from IRB review/approval). 

We thank you for taking the time to consider this request, and share this opportunity with others. We request that contributions be received by June 10th. We hope that this piece will reflect the collective power and voice of sexual violence survivors, as well as create a space for a group of survivors to engage in an empowering political discourse. 

Sincerely, 

Katherine Bogen, BA and Lindsay Orchowski, PhD

-- 

Katherine W. Bogen

Senior Clinical Research Assistant

Rhode Island Hospital: Department of Psychiatry

146 West River Street, Suite 1L, Providence, RI 02904

Phone: (401) 444-7067 

Fax: (401) 444-2570

Email: Katherine.Bogen@lifespan.org

Lindsay M. Orchowski, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor (Research)

Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior

Alpert Medical School of Brown University

Staff Psychologist, Rhode Island Hospital

146 West River Street, Suite 11B, Providence RI 02904

Lindsay_Orchowski@brown.edu

(p) 401-444-7021;  (f): 401-444-7109

Speaking Up Against Cognitive Distortions Regarding Sexual Violence

Have you ever heard someone hear about one rape case that was unfounded or thrown out because of a false accusation and then generalize to all rape cases? Overgeneralization, jumping to conclusions, and blaming are among the cognitive distortions that people often call upon as a way to dismiss violence against women.

            So what can you do:  Speak up and point to the evidence.  Point out what evidence there is about reporting rape. (1) The majority of rape victims do not report being attacked to the police (NIJ). (2) Research shows that false reporting of sexual assault ranges from 2-8%. It means it happens but it is not typical (NSVRC).  

            Even if the person you are talking to does not change his/her mind, someone else may hear what you are saying and you have had a chance to practice speaking up about injustice.

References

Grohol, John M. 15 Common CognitiveDistortions. PsychCentral. 

NIJ. National Institute of Justice.2010. Reporting of Sexual Violence Incidents.

 

NSVRC.National Sexual Violence Resource Center. 2016. False Reports: Moving Beyondthe Issue to Successfully Investigate and Prosecute Non-Stranger SexualAssault. 

 Martha T.

Sexual Orientation and Sexual Assault

In "Sexual orientation and sexual assault victimization among U.S. college students," Johnson, Matthews, and Napper find that sexual minority college students (transgender, gay men, bisexual women and men) other than lesbians report more sexual victimization than heterosexual students.

Johnson, L. M., et al. 2016. Sexual orientation and sexual assault victimization

among US college students.  The Social Science Journal.