Self-Defense Training to Reduce Violence Against Women and Girls: An Integrative Review.

This integrative review synthesizes evidence from 19 studies published between 2011 and 2023 on women's self-defense training as an intervention to reduce violence against women and girls (VAWG). The review found strong and consistent evidence that self-defense training significantly reduces incidents of nonconsensual sexual contact, attempted rape, and completed rape, while also improving knowledge related to sexual violence. Good evidence supports its role in enhancing self-efficacy and positively influencing attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors associated with VAWG, though findings on coercion, disclosure, depression, fear, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are mixed or limited. The review highlights the diversity of effective programs, such as No Means No Worldwide (NMNW), Enhanced Assess, Acknowledge, Act (EAAA), and Rape Aggression Defense (RAD), but notes variability in content, dose, and populations studied, emphasizing the need for further research to determine optimal intervention characteristics and to evaluate effects in more diverse and high-risk groups.