Backed By Research

Looking for data related to the benefits of self-defense training? The resources below will give you more information.

Changing the Hidden Curriculum of Campus Rape Prevention and Education: Women’s Self-Defense as a Key Protective Factor for a Public Health Model of Prevention

Authors: Martha McCaughey and Jill Cermele

This article discusses how self-defense is an effective protective factor in preventing sexual assault but is often excluded from campus rape prevention efforts. The article recommends incorporating self-defense into prevention efforts for a more effective approach. See the research

Empowerment Self-Defense Training in a Community Population

Authors: Jocelyn A. Hollander and Jeanine Cunningham

This study shows that adult women who completed a 9-hour community-based empowerment self-defense course reported significantly less sexual assault at the 1-year follow-up. They also had significantly greater self-defense self-efficacy, accurate knowledge about sexual assault, and less self-silencing than those who did not take the course. See the research

“Get Out of My Home and Don’t Come Back!” Empowering Women Through Self-Defense

Authors: Jan Jordan and Elaine Mossman

Self-defense courses can be effective in preventing intimate partner violence. This article reviews data from two studies to find overwhelmingly positive outcomes of incorporating self-defense training to empower women who have been victims of intimate partner violence. See the research

Beyond Sexual Assault Prevention: Targeted Outcomes for Empowerment Self-Defense

Author: Brieanne Beaujolais, PhD

The purpose of this study was to examine Empowerment Self-Defense instructor perspectives about intervention outcomes they perceive to be most important for their students to inform future research areas. Six themes emerged from the interviews: agency, boundaries, core beliefs, health and healing, somatic experiences, and gender and intersectionality--each with two or more subthemes. See the research