title: A self-defense program reduces the incidence of sexual assault in Kenyan adolescent girls.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  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 "No Means No Worldwide" 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, John Muir Medical Center, Walnut Creek, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Jake
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sinclair
authors.forename: Lee
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sinclair
authors.forename: Evans
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Otieno
authors.forename: Munyae
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mulinge
authors.forename: Cynthia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kapphahn
authors.forename: Neville H
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Golden
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D019548:Crime Victims; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003479:Curriculum; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007630:Kenya; D011204:Poverty Areas; D011902:Rape / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012572:School Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014505:Urban Population; D016387:Women's Health; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Adolescent girls; Rape; Sexual assault