Ending Sexual Violence Together
Working with Indigenous communities worldwide to end sexual violence.
It is estimated that close to one billion women and children will experience sexual violence in their lifetime.
ONE BILLION.
IMpower United plays an important role in ending the nightmare.
Impact Science?
We’ve got it.
IMpower is the subject of eleven published papers in major scientific journals in collaboration with leading researchers at Stanford University, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Two studies were conducted through rigorous randomized controlled trials.
IMpower was piloted and studied for seven years through partnership with No Means No Kenya/Malawi, Ujamaa-Africa and, most recently, Native American youth in South Dakota. All IMpower programming is based on the collective experiences, voices, and feedback of over 225,000 children.
The insanely great news:
Here’s what happens when IMpower comes to a school or community.
What does IMpower United do?
IMpower United is a Resource Lab with three main areas of focus:
IMpower United is currently focused exclusively on our work with indigenous communities. Our home base is Pine Ridge South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. We are part of a coalition opening a sexual violence prevention center called Peaceful Means or Wahwala Iyohlogya.
We have partnered with Tribal Leaders, Elders and the University of Nebraska at Lincoln to teach all school age children in Pine Ridge while training new instructors to implement IMpower with other tribes throughout the US. We will be researching our work for years to come in an effort to know what works to prevent sexual violence and empower youth to be the change they want to see.
All Pine Ridge IMpower instructors are Native American and participate deeply in the adaptation of IMpower to incorporate local culture, spiritual practices and strength based learning.
Wopila~!
Need help right now?
IMpower United is working towards a collaboratively designed Open Sourcing of all IMpower materials.
In the meantime, you can start with two free 90 minute curriculums for youth of any age.
Global Props
Self‐Defense as an Effective and Neglected Form of Sexual Assault Prevention: A Commentary and Overdue Correction to the Literature
Published in Springer Link (2022)
Scholarly studies, reports, and best-practices on the prevention of sexual violence often omit a key component of the scholarly literature: that verbal and/or physical resistance (i.e., self-defense strategies) enable most women to stop most assailants in most sexual assault situations, and that training in self-defense prevents assault in a way that is empowering rather than restrictive or victim-blaming.
Want to end sexual violence? Feminist self-defence is the only proven solution
Published in apolitical (2018)
After almost half a century of research, advocacy and policy, tried-and-tested strategies that successfully prevent sexual violence remain frustratingly elusive. The problem of sexual violence remains at epidemic proportions: nearly one in five women in the US has been raped at some point during her lifetime.
INSPIRE: Seven strategies for Ending Violence Against Children
Published in World Health Organization (2016)
INSPIRE: Seven strategies for ending violence against children identifies a select group of strategies that have shown success in reducing violence against children. They are: implementation and enforcement of laws; norms and values; safe environments; parent and caregiver support; income and economic strengthening; response and support services; and education and life skills.
A Worldwide Teaching Program to Stop Rape
Published in The New York Times (2018)
High rates of sexual assault on college campuses get a lot of attention - and rightly so. But, do you know what group has higher rates of sexual assault and rape than college women? College-age women who aren’t in college.
Research
Leading institutions have evaluated the impact of IMpower.
All studies on IMpower were conducted by No Means No Kenya/Malawi in partnership with Ujamaa Africa, with the exception of one study. The Journal of Child Sexual Abuse was conducted in the USA in partnership with University of Nebraska - Lincoln.
