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

## TL;DR

A video-based self-defense program significantly improved knowledge among adolescent girls in rural Gujarat, India.

## Contribution

Demonstrates the effectiveness of video-assisted teaching for self-defense in improving knowledge among adolescent girls.

## Key findings

- Post-intervention, 80.5% of participants showed excellent knowledge of self-defense.
- The program significantly increased knowledge levels compared to pre-intervention scores.
- Improvements were consistent across diverse demographic groups.

## 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.