Enhanced Assess, Acknowledge, Act (EAAA) Sexual Assault Resistance Program

Updated: Jan 12, 2018
Evidence Rating:
Top Tier

Highlights

  • Program:

    A sexual assault resistance program for first-year female university students.

  • Evaluation Methods:

    A well-conducted multi-site randomized controlled trial (RCT) with a sample of 899 women at three diverse Canadian universities.

  • Key Findings:

    Approximately a 50% reduction in the incidence of rape during the 12 months after random assignment (5.2% of women in the treatment group were raped vs. 9.8% of women in the control group, a difference that was statistically significant).

The Enhanced Assess, Acknowledge, Act (EAAA) Sexual Assault Resistance program consists of four three-hour units that involve games, lectures, discussion, and application and practice activities. The Assess unit focuses on improving women’s assessment of the risk of sexual assault by male acquaintances and developing strategies to minimize that risk; the Acknowledge unit focuses on overcoming emotional barriers to seeing the danger in situations that have turned coercive; the Act unit offers instruction about effective options for resistance and includes two hours of self-defense training; and the Sexuality and Relationships unit provides information on sexual health, safer-sex practices, strategies for communicating about sex, and an opportunity for participants to explore their sexual attitudes, values, and desires.

The cost of the program to a university is approximately $600 per student in U.S. dollars during the first of year of implementation (including staff training and all other costs), and slightly lower in subsequent years.[1]

Click here for the EAAA Program website.

To see our full evidence summary:
Download PDF

References

[1] Our cost estimate is somewhat higher than that developed by Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development because we assume higher staffing costs.


Senn, C.Y., Eliasziw, M., Barata, P.C., Thurston, W.E., Newby-Clark, I.R., Radtke, H.L. & Hobden, K.L. (2015). Efficacy of a Sexual Assault Resistance Program for University Women. The New England Journal of Medicine 372:2326-35.

Senn, C.Y., Eliasziw, M., Hobden, K.L., Newby-Clark, I.R., Barata, P.C., Radtke, H.L., and Thurston, W.E. (2017). Secondary and 2-Year Outcomes of a Sexual Assault Resistance Program for University Women. Psychology of Women Quarterly 41(2):147-62.

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