Empowering adolescent girls through video-assisted self-defense teaching program in rural Gujarat, India.

Abstract

Adolescent girls face myriad challenges impacting their mental health and well-being, necessitating empowerment through self-defense education. In contexts of prevalent gender-based violence, such education becomes imperative, particularly in countries like India. However, the influence of demographic factors on knowledge levels regarding self-defense techniques among adolescent girls remains uncertain. This study employed a one-group pre-test - post-test design to evaluate the impact of a video-assisted self-defense teaching program on adolescent girls in rural Gujarat, India. A sample of 100 girls from Mahesana district schools participated, with data collected via structured questionnaires administered pre and post-intervention. The intervention significantly enhanced participants' knowledge levels, with a remarkable increase in mean post-test scores compared to pre-test scores. Specifically, prior to the intervention, 45% of participants exhibited low knowledge levels, which improved to 19.5% post-intervention. Notably, 80.5% demonstrated excellent knowledge post-intervention. The study underscores the efficacy of a video-assisted self-defense teaching program in augmenting knowledge levels among adolescent girls in rural Gujarat. Despite demographic diversity, the intervention yielded consistent improvements, emphasizing its universal applicability.