Preliminary evidence of promise of a sexual violence risk reduction intervention for female students in South African tertiary education institutions

ABSTRACT

Campus sexual violence risk reduction and resistance interventions have been developed and tested among female students in the global North and proven effective. Evidence-based interventions to prevent sexual violence tested amongst female students in the global South and in South African campuses are lacking. We present preliminary evidence of promise of Ntombi Vimbela! (NV!), a sexual violence prevention intervention piloted amongst first year female students in eight purposively selected campuses in South Africa. Focus group discussions were conducted with 118 female students who participated in NV! workshops. Most students found the content of NV! relevant and reported having experienced its positive effects. They perceived that NV! empowered them with skills to assess and deal with sexual assault risky situations. NV! changed their attitudes and beliefs about gender, shifted their acceptance of rape myths and beliefs, improved communication skills, enhanced self-esteem, and confidence to defend oneself in risky sexual assault situations. Few participants were unsure whether they will be able to use the skill in real life. These findings indicate a range of short-term positive outcomes which we anticipate would reduce the risk of sexual assault among first year female students. This suggests that NV! should be subject to further evaluation.

KEYWORDS:

• Sexual violence
• risk reduction
• gender transformative
• self-defense
• female students

Acknowledgements

Our sincere gratitude goes to all the study participants, the peer facilitators, and the National Department of Higher Education and Training that supported this work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The publication was made possible through the funds received from the South African Medical Research Council and the Sexual Violence Research Initiative. We gratefully acknowledge the University of California Global Health Institute (UCGHI) Center of Expertise on Women's Health, Gender, and Empowerment for its strong support for the financial elements of this grant.