@article{ref1,
title="A self-defense program reduces the incidence of sexual assault in Kenyan adolescent girls",
journal="Journal of Adolescent Health",
year="2013",
author="Sinclair, Jake and Sinclair, Lee and Otieno, Evans and Mulinge, Munyae and Kapphahn, Cynthia and Golden, Neville H.",
volume="53",
number="3",
pages="374-380",
abstract="PURPOSE: To determine the effect of a standardized 6-week self-defense program on the incidence of sexual assault in adolescent high school girls in an urban slum in Nairobi, Kenya. METHODS: Population-based survey of 522 high school girls in the Korogocho-Kariobangi locations in Nairobi, Kenya, at baseline and 10 months later. Subjects were assigned by school attended to either a &quot;No Means No Worldwide&quot; self-defense course (eight schools; N = 402) or to a life-skills class (two schools; N = 120). Both the intervention and the life-skills classes were taught in the schools by trained instructors. Participants were administered the same survey at baseline and follow-up. RESULTS: A total of 522 girls (mean age, 16.7 ± 1.5 years; range, 14-21 years) completed surveys at baseline, and 489 at 10-month follow-up. At baseline, 24.5% reported sexual assault in the prior year, with the majority (90%) reporting assault by someone known to them (boyfriend, 52%; relative, 17%; neighbor, 15%; teacher or pastor, 6%). In the self-defense intervention group, the incidence of sexual assault decreased from 24.6% at baseline to 9.2% at follow-up (p < .001), in contrast to the control group, in which the incidence remained unchanged (24.2% at baseline and 23.1% at follow-up; p = .10). Over half the girls in the intervention group reported having used the self-defense skills to avert sexual assault in the year after the training. Rates of disclosure increased in the intervention group, but not in controls. CONCLUSIONS: A standardized 6-week self-defense program is effective in reducing the incidence of sexual assault in slum-dwelling high school girls in Nairobi, Kenya.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1054-139X",
doi="10.1016/j.jadohealth.2013.04.008",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2013.04.008"
}