CUTUALLY SENSITIVE ACQUAINTANCE RAPE PREVENTION PROGRAM FOR
JAPANESE FEMALE STUDENTS IN NORTH AMERICA
by

Kiyono Arao
B.A., Hokusei Gakuen University, 1997

PROJECT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF EDUCATION
IN
COUNSELLING

UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA
August 2012

© Kiyono Arao, 2012

UNIVERSilY of NORTHERN
BRITISH COLUMBIA
LIBRARY

Prince George, B.C.

11

Abstract
Acquaintance rape is one of the major problems among the student population and it can
be seen in their social life, such as at parties and/or in date situations. Compared with stranger
rape, the victims of acquaintance rape tend to suffer more from self blame, or even fail to label
their experience as rape due to the closeness of the relationship with the offender. As a result,
the effort to provide proper information regarding acquaintance rape and to prevent it has been
made and there is currently several prevention programs organized at educational institution in
North America.
Although international students in North America have the same potential of
victimization, it is rare for minorities to be involved in the prevention program. Due to their
cultural background, international students have the possibility to increase their risk of
victimization and may be reluctant to seek help even after being victimized. For example,
Japanese people tend to avoid confrontations and use indirect communication in order to keep
harmony in interpersonal relationships; this communication style may cause them to fail to
decline risky invitations for what becomes recognized as acquaintance rape. This project
proposes the necessity of a culturally sensitive prevention program for international students in
North America in order to obtain proper knowledge about acquaintance rape and its prevention,
to train assertive communication skills in English, and to get familiar and more comfortable with
connecting with available support systems in North, taking Japanese females as a sample
targeted population.

11l

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract

11

Table of Contents

1ll

Acknowledgement

VI

Chapter One

Introduction
Statement of the Problem
Significance ofthe Project
Personal Location
Overview of the Project

Chapter Two

Literature
Introduction
Stranger Rape versus Acquaintance Rape
Attribution of Responsibility
Influence of Rape Myths on Victim Blame
Hidden Rape
Factors ofVictim Blaming in Acquaintance Rape Situations
Alcohol
Victim dress
Misinterpretation ofFemales ' Sexual Interest
Cultural Differences
Traits of Japanese Females
Help Seeking Attitudes of International Students from Asia
Acquaintance Rape Prevention Programs
Summary

Chapter Three

Program Contents
Purposes of the Program
Program Framework
(1) Health ofthe public
(2) Data-informed approaches
(3) Cultural competency
(4) Prevention
When is the Program Held?
Who is the Program for?
·
Program Contents
Week One: Day One: Main Session
Purpose
Objectives
Procedure
Week One: Day Two
Purpose

1

2
5
6
8
9

9

12
14
15
17
17
19
20

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26

32
34

40

42
42
43
43
44
48
49
49
52

53
53
53
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56
56

IV

Objectives
Procedure
Week One: Day Three
Purpose
Objectives
Procedure
Week One: Day Four
Purpose
Objectives
Procedure
Week Two: Day Five
Purpose
Objectives
Procedure
Week Two: Day Six
Purpose
Objectives
Procedure
Week Two: Day Seven
Purpose
Objectives
Procedure
Week Ten: Day Eight: Follow-up Session
Purpose
Objectives
Procedure
Conclusion
Chapter Four

Discussion
Summary of the Project
( 1) Language support
(2) Shift of class dynamic
(3) Self-esteem support
Limitations
Implication for Future Research

61
61
61
62
66
66
66
66
71
71
71
71

74
74
74
74
77
77

77
77

80
80
80
80
82
84
85
85

86
87
88

90

References
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
Appendix 3
Appendix 4
Appendix 5
Appendix 6
Appendix 7
Appendix 8

57
57

Alcohol Use Disorders Identification: Pre-test
Alcohol Use Disorders Identification: Post-test
Dating Behavior Survey: Pre-/Post-test
Date and Acquaintance Rape Scale: Pre-/Post-test
Sexual Experiences Survey: Pre-test
Sexual Experiences Survey: Post-test
Acquaintance Rape Scenario for Checking the Level of Victim Blame
Useful English expressions

99
101
103
105
108
110
112
113

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Appendix 9
Appendix 10
Appendix 11
Appendix 12
Appendix 13
Appendix 14
Appendix 15

Risky Invitations/ Forceful Requests
My " Should" in Relationships
Sample of Acquaintance Rape Scenarios for Detecting Risk Behaviors
Setting Your Limitation
Class Discussion: More Concerning Situations
Program Evaluation: Post-Main Sessions
Program Evaluation: Post-Follow-up Sessions

114
116
117
120
121
122
123

Acknowledgment
I would like to acknowledge the sincere assistance and support of many people who

contributed to the completion of this project. First of all, my appreciation goes to my Project
Supervisor, Dr. John Sherry for his knowledgeable advice and generosity. His patience and
understanding for me helped me get through this very long road towards completion. I would

also like to acknowledge the important contributions of my other committee members. I thank
Dr. Peter MacMillan for his advice and comments coming from his extensive knowledge and

experience. I appreciate his occasional check-ins and his support to boost my motivation. My
thanks as well to Dr. Si Transken for her excellent practiced knowledge of the issues around

women. I greatly appreciate her participation in my committee at the last moment, which saved
me from anxiety for the sudden loss of my committee member, and moreover, made my project
more useful thanks to her advice and comments.
Secondly, I thank God for having wonderful friends in Canada who are always with me

and provide me with warm support when in need. 1 owe a very special thanks to my friend, Anju

Aggarwal who worked hard for me as a research assistant and an editor. Thanks to her prompt
feedback, the progress of this project in the last couple months was dramatically advanced.

Without her faithful assistance and support, I could never have finished this project. My
appreciation also goes to Delyn Federowicz who also worked as a research assistant and an

editor. Her assistance helped make this project more meaningful. In addition, thanks to her
information I was able to get connected with Dr. Si Transkcn. My sincere thanks as well to
Patricia Trish Pilotte for her additional proofreading and great encouragement for me as her
warm support boosted my motivation and confidence when 1 was in a difficult time.

Vll

Finally, besides the people above, many of my friends encouraged me to keep moving
forward with their compassionate support. I sincerely appreciate all the assistance, support, and
encouragement I have received along this long road.
Thank you very much all.

Chapter One: Introduction
Canada is one of the top ten countries which Japanese people choose for studying
overseas; in 2008, there were 2,169 Japanese with study permits studying in Canada. It is
assumed that many more Japanese people have been studying in Canada, including short-term
exchange students and people with working holiday visas (Tomorrow Co. Ltd., 2010). Most of
them come to Canada expecting to achieve better English skills, advanced knowledge, and/or
deeper cultural understanding. One of the best ways to accomplish these goals is to get familiar
with local people; however, Japanese students' motivation has the potential to be taken
advantage of and be victimized by crime in Canada. The Consulate-General of Japan in
Vancouver states on its website that there are concerns about the low awareness Japanese people,
who come from a comparatively safe country, have toward prevention of crime and self-defense,
and warns them to be aware of the importance of self-defense while living in Canada. This
website also introduces the major crimes in which Japanese people are victimized and one of
them is sexual assault. The Consulate-General of Japan in Vancouver states the number of
sexual assaults toward females is significantly larger in Canada than in Japan, but also assumes it
is much less than the actual number due to underreporting of sexual assaults in Japan. The
Consulate-General is concerned that Japanese females are less likely to say "no"- due to cultural
norms around politeness - than females from other countries and some Canadian males may
intentionally take advantage of this. They strongly request Japanese females be aware of these
facts and be cautious in Canada (Consulate-General of Japan in Vancouver, 2010). Therefore, it
seems necessary that Japanese females learn the potential risks of sexual victimization in Canada
and how to avoid them during their study.

2

Statement of the Problem

Rape is a crime which causes significant psychological damage. Frazier and Seales
(1997) discovered, in their hospital-based and campus studies, that stranger and acquaintance
rape victims do not differ regarding post-rape distress and symptomology. Both victim groups
report similar levels of depression, anxiety, hostility, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and
disruptions in beliefs about themselves, others, and the world; however, acquaintance rape
victims blame themselves significantly more for the assault and report more disrupted beliefs
than victims of stranger rape. Although the majority of people associate stranger rape with the
"typical" crime of rape (Gilmartin-Zena, 1983), the literature indicates that sexual assault is
significantly more likely to involve victims and offenders who are acquaintances (Jimenez,
2000). Ages 16-19 have the highest rate of victimization due to rape, with 20-24 year olds
having the second highest rate. These two groups cover the most common age groups for
university and/or college students (Ward, et. al, 1991). On a university and/or college campus,
80-90 percent of all rapes occurring are acquaintance rape and 50-57 percent are date rape
(Abbey, 1991; Ellis, 1994; Harrison, et.al., 2008; Loiselle & Fuqua, 2007). A correlation has
been discovered showing that the closer the relation between victim and perpetrator in an
acquaintance rape, the more likely it is to be identified as other than rape (David & Schneider,
2005; Bridges, 1991 ; Simonson, 1999).
Compared to rapes by strangers, rapes by acquaintances were less likely to be regarded as
rape, even by the victims (Ben-David & Schneider, 2005). Frazier and Seales (1997) determined
that "100% ofwomen raped by strangers acknowledged their experience as rape, whereas only
47% [emphasis added] ofwomen raped by an acquaintance did so" (p. 62). Peterson and

Muehlenhard (2004) propose three reasons for unacknowledged rape: (1) women not wanting to

3

perceive themselves as victims due to implications of powerlessness or stigmatization; (2) they
may not want to view the perpetrator as a rapist; and (3) the rape myths may influence their
perceptions, as they define rape narrowly or lay blame on the victim.
ln regards to stigmatizing labels, rape myths and victim blame, much of the past rape
research posits that these factors are related to gender-role stereotyping and these gender-role
stereotype beliefs minimized the seriousness of the rape, as well as putting responsibility more
on the victims than perpetrators (Frese, Moya, & Megias, 2004; Jimenez, 2000; Kopper, 1996;
Yamawaki, 2002). The widely accepted definition of 'rape myth' is defined by Burt ( 1980) as
"prejudicial, stereotyped, or false beliefs about rape, rape victims, and rapists" (p. 217). She
proposes attitudes toward rape are strongly connected to other pervasive attitudes, such as sex
role stereotyping, and rape is a form of reflection of a dominant-submissive, competitive, sex
role stereotyped culture (Burt, 1980). Yamawaki (2002) suggests that in Japanese society there
are more traditional and rigid sex roles developed in the patriarchal extended family system and
higher hierarchal power distance between men and women than in North American society. This
has a significant influence, for Japanese people, towards minimizing the seriousness of rape and
blaming the victim more than their American counterparts may. Therefore, Japanese females are
assumed to have higher risk to fail to acknowledge their experience or minimize the seriousness
of their experience and keep the distress hidden when they are sexually victimized.
The studies of interpersonal communication also suggest that Japanese females in North
America may increase the risk factors of sexual victimization due to Japanese cultural
communication styles. Past research indicates that alcohol consumption, revealing dress, and a
male ' s misinterpretation of a female ' s sexual interests are major risk factors of acquaintance rape
(Abbey, 1982; Abby, 1991; Benson, Gohm, & Gross,2007; Lam & Roman, 2009; Osman &

4
Davis, 1999; Workman & Orr, 1996). However, Japanese females, because of the way they .
communicate in Japan, have a high potential to be misunderstood and may end up failing to
avoid the risks. Japan is one of the collectivistic countries in which belonging to groups and
harmonizing with group members is emphasized. In collectivistic countries, high-context
communication, which is characterized as "being indirect, ambiguous, and understated with
being reserved and sensitive to listeners", is the norm and the use of this communication style
seems to help people in collectivistic countries maintain harmony (Gudykunst & Matsumoto,
1997, p. 31). Gao (2005) explains that Japanese language reflects the value ofharmony and so
the Japanese language has a variety of ways to avoid disagreements and say "no". Gao (2005)
also mentions that when Japanese people, who have such language habits, are among foreigners
things may not go as smoothly. In addition to Japanese language characteristics, Makino and
Takemura (1994) describe Japanese characteristic behaviors in interpersonal relationships. They
report that Japanese people tend to prefer following suggestions and commands to being selfassertive in order to maintain harmony with others. In contrast, North American countries are
categorized as individualistic, in which individuals ' initiatives and achievements are emphasized.
In individualistic countries, low-context communication, which "is characterized as being direct,

explicit, open, precise and as being consistent with one' s feelings ," is the norm (Gudykunst &
Matsumoto, 1997, p. 32-33). As a result, the Japanese cultural characteristics, which are indirect
and ambiguous, may be interpreted by North American people, who are direct and explicit, as a
sign of acceptance. This may lead to misunderstandings such as North Americans believing a
Japanese person is willing to accept an invitation of excessive alcohol or a Japanese person has a
sexual interest toward a potential perpetrator. It seems extremely important for Japanese females
in North American society to recognize the cultural differences and to shift their attitude and

5

behavior from an indirect Japanese style to a more direct North American style during their stay
in North America in order to avoid the risk of being victimized.
In spite of the increased risk to Japanese females , it is assumed, due to cultural beliefs,
that Japanese females may not ask for help even if they are sexually victimized and have
traumatic distress. In addition to the possession of strong rape myths due to their cultural
background, Japanese people generally have a strong stigma toward seeking help as well
(Masuda et. al., 2005 ; Yamawaki, 2010). These Japanese cultural beliefs prevent them from
accessing an appropriate support available when they face problems, such as rape experience, in
North America. Past research also indicated, however, that prior counseling experience led to a
more open attitude toward counseling services (Dadfar & Friedlander, 1982; Komiya & Eells,
2001; Masuda et al. , 2005). Therefore, if Japanese people in North America have an opportunity
to connect to counseling or support systems personally, even before they have any problems, it
would likely lead to a more open attitude toward accessing these services when in need.
In summary, Japanese females in North America have a high risk of sexual victimization

due to their cultural communication style and beliefs. This communication style and beliefs may
be appropriate in Japan, but once Japanese females move to a North American society their
communication style is not as effective. They may learn the difference after they fail to avoid
risks and eventually get victimized, which is absolutely not a healthy way to learn cultural
differences. In order for them to expand their perspectives and have a fulfilling experience in
North America, providing a culturally sensitive educational program is essentiaL
Significance of the Project
Efforts for rape prevention are in place at educational settings in North America, however,
the majority of programs are aimed at domestic students and its participants are mainly North

6
American Caucasians (Gidycz et. a!. , 2001 ; Klaw et. a!. , 2005 ; Londsway et. al, 1998). Although
some researchers implied the importance of culturally sensitive prevention programs (Lonsway
& Kothari, 2000), there seems to be no available programs aimed specifically at minority groups.

This project specifically targets female Japanese students studying at North American
college/universities in order to organize the contents and materials to be culturally suitable for
the target population. The program contains information about cultural differences between
Japan and North America, as well as common materials from past prevention programs, such as
information about the definition of sexual assault, rape myths, communication skills, preventing
a misunderstanding about sexual interests, etc. In addition, this program is organized to support
Japanese students to shift from a Japanese style attitude to a more North American attitude
through the programs facilitation. This program would be a proper bridge for Japanese students
from a Japanese culture to a North American culture.

Personal Location
Even when I was in Japan, I heard rumors that Japanese females were easy targets for
Caucasian males to make sexual advances. From my personal experience during my time in
Canada studying for my degree, I concluded the rumors seemed to be firmly believed by some
males in Canada as well. I was acquainted with a few Canadian male students who frequently
sought dates from among the short-term exchange students; specifically from Asian countries. I
also met a Japanese exchange student who was sexually victimized after a party and was still
suffering from the trauma. On many occasions, at bars or student parties, I had men approach
me and imply an interest in more intimacy than friendliness . Thanks to my career as an English
teacher in Japan and my major in Education Counseling in Canada, I had enough knowledge
regarding acquaintance/date rape and cultural differences in communication styles, as well as

7

being assertive, to be careful when interacting with friendly male strangers in public and, as a
result, avoid risky situations.
Unfortunately, many of the Japanese exchange/ESL students I have met do not seem to
have this knowledge; some of them do not even know of the problem and do not know the term
'acquaintance/date rape. ' During my practicum at the Counseling Centre in the University of
Northern British Columbia (UNBC), I organized a one day risk prevention workshop for
Japanese ESL students. UNBC has a group of 15-20 Japanese female students in attendance,
arriving every six months, from a girls ' university in Tokyo. With the ESL officers' cooperation,
the workshop was made mandatory for one group of Japanese ESL students. The workshop was
a 2 hour program, including ice-breaker games, a lecture about the risks of alcohols, drugs, and
sexual assaults, practice of useful English expressions to decline unwanted offers, role playing
scenarios, information about dangerous areas in the community, and information on resources
on-campus and in community. According to feedback from the participants, the contents of the
program seemed shocking to them because they believed Canada was as safe as Japan and did
not know about the problems presented in the workshop.
From all of the personal experience listed above, I realized the importance of educational
opportunities for Japanese students in North America in order to help them be more secure.
Realizing risks is the primary step for prevention. It is extremely important for students from
other countries to realize the risks and cultural differences present in the country they are visiting
and that their "common sense" may not necessarily be common there. The importance I feel is
evident in these experiences and observations, and from the knowledge gained in doing research
because of the same, I am proposing a culturally sensitive risk prevention program for Japanese
female international students.

8

Overview of the Project

This project consists of four parts. In this first part, a brief background and the necessity
of this project are explained. Part two is the literature review and summarizes the past research
regarding the problem of acquaintance rape, the risk factors of acquaintance rape, Japanese
cultural characteristics, help seeking behaviors of Japanese international students, and rape
prevention programs. The need for culturally sensitive rape prevention programs for
international students is also explained. Part three proposes a model of a rape prevention
program for Japanese female students, and the program's organizing principles and strategies are
based on the ones proposed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In part
four, the limitations of the project and future implications are discussed.

9
Chapter Two: Literature
Introduction
Past research indicates acquaintance/date rape is prevalent among the college and
university student populations in North America. In this chapter, the risk factors of
acquaintance/date rape and Japanese people's cultural beliefs and communication characteristics
are reviewed. As previously mentioned, this project specifically targets female Japanese students
studying at North American college/universities in order to organize the contents and materials
to be culturally suitable for the target population. The Japanese population is also used to
explore females with a different cultural background and how the cultural difference may relate
to increased risk of sexual victimization in North America. In addition, past rape prevention
efforts are reviewed as reference for organizing an appropriate rape prevention program for
Japanese female students.
Stranger Rape versus Acquaintance Rape
Lam and Roman (2009) define rape as "sexual behaviors involving some type of
penetration due to force or the threat of force; a lack of consent; or inability to give consent due
to age, intoxication, or mental status" (p. 18). They also divide rape into two categories; stranger
rape and acquaintance rape. Stranger rape involves two people who did not know each other
before the incident. Acquaintance rape involves two people who knew each other in some way
before the incident. Date rape is a subset of acquaintance rape and includes two people who are
becoming involved, or are already involved in a relationship (Lam & Roman, 2009). Makepeace
(1989) defines the stages of courtship as (1) first date; (2) casual and steady dating; and (3)
engagement and living together; in this project all three stages are considered a "relationship".

10

In the literature reviewed, the difference between stranger rape and acquaintance rape
seems to be demonstrated from two different viewpoints. The first view is from the actual
experience of rape victims and the second view is from the perception of observers to rape, such
as research participants reading rape scenarios. These two views may differ in many ways;
however, both views seem to agree on the issue of victim blame.
In regards to the first view, the studies regarding the experiences reported by rape victims

demonstrates the traits of each rape; for example, Koss et al. (1988) conducted a self-report
survey among a national sample of 3,187 college students in the United States (U.S.) and rape
victims were selected based on the survey. These selections were categorized into stranger rape
victims and acquaintance rape victims and the experiences of the two categories of victims were
then compared. The results of the study led Koss et al. (1988) to propose four major differences
between stranger and acquaintance rape experiences.
The first difference Koss et.al ( 1988) proposes is that stranger rapes are less likely than
acquaintance rapes to occur among college populations. Among the national sample used in the
United States, the number of students reporting the experience of stranger rape was 52, whereas
the number of students reporting the experience of acquaintance rape was 416. These numbers
show that acquaintance rape occurs eight times as often as stranger rape. The second difference
is stranger rapes are more likely to involve threats of physical harm or actual physical harm, such
as hitting, slapping, and display or use of weapons. The third difference is the frequency of
stranger rape with the same victim is generally only once, as opposed to acquaintance rape,
which is usually more than once. Stranger rape is also more likely to involve multiple offenders.
The fourth difference is stranger rape victims are more likely to report their experience, to seek
help through services such as crisis centers, and to view their experience as rape.

11
In regards to post-rape distress, victims of stranger and acquaintance rape do not differ
(Frazier, 1997; Koss et a!. , 1988). In the study by Koss et a!. (1988), both stranger and
acquaintance rape groups show high scores on the Beck Depression Inventory and the State
Anxiety Index and both groups' mean scores are higher than the one for non-victimized women
in the national U.S. sample. Frazier and Seales (1997) conducted two different studies at two
different locations to compare the psychological symptoms of both stranger and acquaintance
rape victims. The participants of one study are female victims who accessed hospital-based rape
crisis programs and the participants of the other study are female college students responding to
the Sexual Experiences Survey and thus identified as rape victims from those responses. The
results of the studies suggest both stranger and acquaintance rapes show similar levels of
psychological symptoms such as depression, anxiety, hostility, PTSD, and disruptions in beliefs
and the mean scores indicate both victim groups show a high level of depression. However,
acquaintance rape victims show significantly higher scores of disruption in beliefs and blame
themselves for the incidents much more than stranger rape victims do.
In regards to the second view, the studies about the observers ' perceptions toward

stranger and acquaintance rape show the differences of observers ' reactions toward the victims
and perpetrators in rape scenarios (Bell, Kuriloff, & Lottes, 1994; Ben-David & Schneider, 2005 ;
Bridges, 1991; Frese, Moya, & Megias, 2004). Bell, Kuriloff, and Lottes (1994), for example,
examine the difference of college students' perception toward stranger rape and acquaintance
rape. A sample of 303 university students answered the survey and their perceptions were
compared. The results indicate that college students are more likely to blame the female victims
for rape when the victim knows the perpetrator. This seems especially true of male students,
who blame the victims of date rape significantly more than female students did. This result can

12
also be seen in countries other than North America. Ben-David and Schneider (2005) conducted
research with 150 university students in Israel and the results indicate the closer the relationship
between a victim and a perpetrator, the more responsibility for the rape Israeli students will
attribute to its victim. In addition, the students are more likely to minimize the severity of rape
when a perpetrator is acquainted with a victim than when a perpetrator is a stranger.
These studies indicate the relationship between victims and perpetrators is significantly
related to victim blame by both actual rape victims and observers. This occurs even though both
stranger and acquaintance rapes are traumatic crimes for the victim and it is the perpetrator who
violates the victim's rights and should be blamed for the crime.
Attribution of Responsibility

Attribution theory explains how the attribution of victim responsibility for a rape can be
assigned. Workman and Orr (1996) describe attribution theory as the process of people
determining causes ofbehavior. For example, Workman and Orr (1996) state ifthe cause of a
rape is judged to not be within the control of a victim, then the responsibility for the rape is not
placed on the victim; however, if the cause is judged to be within the control of a victim, then
some responsibility may be attributed to the victim. This suggests many of the rape victims and
the observers who showed significant victim blame may "believe" that there were factors the
rape victims were able to control to prevent the incident. However, Gulotta and Neuberger
(1983) point out that rape is an offence "heavily connected with irrational thinking, prejudice,
stereotype and myth" (p.1 0). Consequently, victims and observers select factors to be attributed
to blame for a rape based on what they "believe," even if it is irrational or false. A person who
believes that "[ w]omen who get raped while hitchhiking get what they deserve" (Burt, 1980,
p.223), for example, would select hitchhiking as a factor that a victim can control, attribute

13
blame to the victim, and minimize the perpetrator' s responsibility. This is true for a rape victim
who hitchhiked before the assault, as well as for a person who observed a rape scenario in which
hitchhiking occurred before the assault. This strongly suggests the reaction towards victims and
perpetrators would be highly influenced by what people normally believe.
Behavioral factors of people involved in these incidents, such as hitchhiking, are defined
by Shults and Schleifer (1983) as internal cause. When external and/or environmental causes
(e.g. location, weather, etc.) are not operative, people are more likely to focus on a behavioral
effect and to attribute responsibility to internal causes (Shults & Schleifer, 1983). Therefore, if
the rape victim ' s behavior is correlated to rape myths, then victims and observers may be more
likely to focus on a victim ' s behavior, thus attributing more responsibility and blame to the
victim who 'chose' the behavior than to the perpetrator. Unfortunately, it may be that the victim
had no safer or more practical option than the 'chosen' behavior, which may not be taken into
account by either the victim or observer when attributing blame. The external causes may, in
fact, be more causal, yet less obvious to the victim and observer, making the "internal cause"
easier to perceive for attributing blame. Research focuses on the act of attribution of blame, but
little has been done on explaining why the attribution occurs. This is supported by Jaspers,
Hewstone and Fincham (1983) when they explain attribution research as dealing with the people
who are attributing that demand the people, who are even victims, be held responsible for their
choices and /or actions in a situation.
Gilmartin-Zena (1983) proposes the "just world" model of attribution theory. "Just world"
is the concept which states that individuals prefer to believe people deserve what they get based
on what they have done (Lerner & Matthews, 1967). In this model, the rape victim who violates
the traditional gender norm by drinking alcohol or wearing revealing clothes will deserve what

14

happens to them and consequently the responsibility of the assault is attributed to the victim. By
believing the victim deserves the unfortunate incident, people can find solace in " the comfortable
view of the world as being ordered, fair and just" (Grubb & Harrower, 2008, p. 398). Violent
crimes cause individuals to feel at risk and vulnerable, especially when the individual, or their
friends and family, could become victims at any time and place. For these individuals, it may be
a form of consolation and even relief to believe the internal factors may contribute to the crime
due to the controllability ofbehavior inherent in these assumptions (Gulotta & Neuberger, 1983).
Lambert and Raichle ' s (2000) research findings show a relationship between just world
beliefs and conservatism. Highly conservative people, both male and female, hold greater just
world beliefs and blame the rape victims more than low conservative people. However, just
world beliefs were applied by conservative people only when they judged the female victim, not
the male perpetrator. Since conservatism can encompass the view of gender role, the assumption
is that conservative people are those who highly accept just world belief. Just world belief is
also a major belief system in the attribution of greater responsibility and blame on the rape
victims rather than the perpetrators.
Influence of Rape Myths on Victim Blame

Rape myths are "prejudicial, stereotyped, or false beliefs about rape, rape victims, and
rapists" (Burt, 1980, p.217). Burt (1980) claims that rape myths are significantly connected to
stereotypical gender roles, and Ben-David and Schneider (2005) state this conceptualizes
expected attitude and behavior for each gender; taking these statements into consideration "rape
is the logical and psychological extension of a dominant-submissive, competitive, sex role
stereotyped culture" (Burt, 1980, p. 229). Bridges ( 1991) agrees with Burt' s (1980) claim and
reports that sex role expectations are associated with rape supportive beliefs, especially more in

15

date rapes than in stranger rape situations. College students in Bridges ' ( 1991) study regard the
perpetrators of date rape as more masculine than the perpetrators of stranger rape. They also
believe the victims of date rape enjoy the assault more than the victims of stranger rape,
especially when the perpetrator is a steady partner. Interestingly, Bridges (1991) found that even
though males are more conservative in gender role stereotyping, females are more likely to
attribute masculinity to the perpetrator than males. Masculinity adheres to "the traditional sexual
script governing heterosexual behavior" (Bridges, 1991 , p.304) and correspondingly, females
who believe sex role stereotyping may be more likely to accept adversarial sexual beliefs and
interpersonal violence which are involved in traditional masculinity than females with less
beliefs of sex role stereotyping (Burt, 1980).
The reviewed literature indicates that there is a significant relationship between rape
myth acceptance and victim blame; (a) people with high acceptance of rape myths are more
likely to blame the victim of rape than people with low acceptance of rape myths; (b) males are
more likely to accept rape myths and blame the victim than females; and (c) the connection
between rape myth acceptance and victim blame is significant, especially in acquaintance rape
scenarios (Frese, Moya, & Megias, 2004; Kopper, 1996; Workman, 1996; )

Hidden Rape
Rape myths not only indicate traditionally "expected" and "appropriate" gender roles but
also define rape narrowly. These stereotypes attribute more blame to the victim and make the
incident unacknowledged as rape, even by the victim (Peterson & Muehlenhard, 2004). Peterson
and Muehlenhard (2004) explain stereotypical rape, as defined by rape myths, specifically
indicate who, where, and how the rape is supposed to occur. In a narrowly defined rape scenario,
the perpetrator is a stranger to the victim who picks up a promiscuous and seductive woman who

16
hangs out in bars or other such places. The rape occurs on the street or some other public place,
with a high level of violence, and the victim is expected to physically resist. Gilmartin-Zena
(1983) also report the most "credible" rape victim in court or at other social control agencies
(e.g. police, counselors, services) is defined as "the woman who will create a good impression
during the trial and who possesses a consistent story, physical evidence of the rape, and no prior
knowledge of the assailant" (p.359). This suggests if the victim and the perpetrator fit the
narrow definitions explained above, the legal system is more likely to view and accept the victim
as a victim; on the other hand, if the victim and the perpetrator do not fit the definition, the rape
can be denied, even by the victim, who then has to redefine the situation to fit the cultural
assumptions that attribute blame to the victim via their own actions (Gulotta & Neuberger, 1983).
Koss (1985) calls this a hidden rape and defines a hidden rape victim as "a women who
has experienced a sexual assault that would legally qualify as rape but who does not
conceptualize herself as a rape victim" (p. 195). Koss (1985) found that the victims of
unacknowledged rape are more likely to be assaulted by an acquaintance or a date than the
victims of acknowledged rape. Koss (1985) also discovered that the closer the relationship
between the victim and the perpetrator, the more likely it is the rape will not be acknowledged as
rape by the victim. When the perpetrator and the victim are in a relationship, the victim may
have difficulty in labeling sexual assault as rape since relationships normally involve sexual
contact. Peterson and Muehlenhard (2004) also reported an interesting finding regarding the
victim's failure to label; the participants do not acknowledge their assault as rape due to the type
of sexual behavior involved in the assault, even though it legally qualifies. Some participants
reject labeling the incident as rape because they do not have penile-vaginal intercourse, even
though vaginal penetration with a finger or other object is also defined as sexual intercourse by

17

Kansas law. Some participants also reject the label of rape because they think the penile
penetration was too short a period of time to be regarded as sex. These participants define rape
narrowly and when the experience does not fit the definition, they reject the label of rape because
it sounds too strong for their experience. Research results show the participants who are least
likely to regard their experience as rape have high acceptance of rape myths and their experience
is highly accordant to the rape myth, especially in relation to "deserving" what happened.
Rape myth acceptance consists ofpeople's belief system towards rape and is a significant
indicator of how people define the sexual assault. In addition, the belief system has a significant
influence on the perception of acquaintance rape. The acquaintance rape victim may suffer
because they feel strongly ashamed due to their behavior in violating traditional gender roles and
consequently blame themselves for the outcome. Other acquaintance rape victims may have
difficulty in conceptualizing their experience as rape, although they may still suffer feelings of
depression, post-rape stress, etc. Both of these victim groups may contribute to the extremely
low report rate.
Factors of Victim Blaming in Acquaintance Rape Situations
The reviewed literature indicates there are two major factors in blame attribution
regarded as internal cause which are connected to victim blame; (a) alcohol and (b) victim's
dress.
Alcohol. Alcohol is the most common factor for acquaintance rape, especially in college
settings due to college students' social activities. In their study with female undergraduate
students, Benson, Gohm, and Gross (2007) found that 78.7% of participants reported that they
consumed alcohol when they were assaulted. In addition, females who experienced attempted
rape or completed rape reported consuming significantly more alcohol when compared with

18
females who had never experienced any type of sexual assault. This study supports the notion
that "higher levels of alcohol consumption were associated with beliefs that alcohol enhances sex
drive, sexual affect, and vulnerability to sexual coercion" (Benson, Gohm, & Gross, 2007, p.348).
Loiselle and Fuqua (2007) also reported on the actual physical effect of alcohol on risk
detection. They recruited forty two female students and divided them into two groups; alcohol
group and placebo control group. The alcohol group consumed three glasses of a 1:5 ratio
mixture of vodka and tonic water, whereas the placebo group consumed three glasses of a 1:5
ratio mixture of flattened tonic water and tonic water. All drinks included ice and lime juice, but
for the placebo group vodka was swabbed around the rim of the glasses to disguise the content of
the drink. All the participants were given 15 minutes to consume all the drinks and then were
asked to listen to an audio taped date-rape vignette; the responses toward the vignette were
recorded. They examined the length of time the participants needed to determine the point at
which the man in the vignette should cease his sexual advances toward the woman. The results
indicate compared to the placebo group, the alcohol group showed a significantly longer length
of time before determining the point at which the man should stop. In fact, they noted the mean
response for this group was long enough that the behaviour being engaged in would be
considered criminal sexual conduct for most States in the U.S.
This study implies the consumption of alcohol actually prevents females from reading the
signs of a man's sexual advance behavior and results in putting them at risk of being sexually
assaulted. As Ward et al. (1991) suggested, however, alcohol is a large part of the student
lifestyle and this means unwanted advances and experiences will become a part of that lifestyle
as well. Among college and university student populations, acquaintance rape frequently occurs
at party-related occasions in both on-campus and off-campus residences and alcohol use is

19
commonly involved (Ward et al. , 1991 ), which may be one of the reasons for the high rate of
acquaintance rape among these populations.
Although drinking is a major component in the student lifestyle, females who drink
alcohol may be viewed with a bias ofbeing sexually available and looking for sex (Abby, 1991).
Stormo et al. (1997) examined the relationship between the level of intoxication and the degree
of victim blame. The results indicate the victim was attributed significantly more blame for the
incident when she was moderately or highly intoxicated, while the perpetrator was attributed
significantly less blame when he was in the same state. This shows that female alcohol
consumption is considered significantly more socially unacceptable, whereas male ' s alcohol
consumption is generally accepted. In the traditional gender role context, females are expected to
be the gatekeeper for sexual advance, expected to be the one in control and able to refrain from
sexual actions. Therefore, the rape victim who is intoxicated before the assault may be blamed
for the failure to accomplish this role (Abby, 1991). Stormo et al. (1997) also reported
respondents with high rape myth acceptance attributed the greatest responsibility and blame to
the victim, but the least to the perpetrator. In regards to the social perception of their behavior,
the cost of imbibing alcohol is higher for women than for men (Abby, 1991).
In contrast to the above result, when the perpetrator is less intoxicated than the victim, the
perpetrator receives more blame. Even though male alcohol consumption is more accepted by
observers, the perpetrator is regarded as blameworthy when he is perceived as taking advantage
ofthe victim (Stormo et al., 1997).
Victim dress. The appearance of the victim is another major factor believed to be an

internal cause which the victim can control. Consequently, the way rape victims dress
themselves may be perceived to be a reflection of their internal character: if the victims dress

20
themselves in a provocative way, it may be considered as a sexual invitation (Lewis & Johnson,
1989). Lewis and Johnson ( 1989) found that the provocatively dressed victim was attributed
significantly more responsibility for the assault than victims who were less provocatively dressed.
The researchers claim the victim's appearance leads to significant blame being attributed to the
victim since the observers may believe the victim invites the assault through their appearance,
even though the victim may choose the clothing just to appear attractive rather than to seem
provocative or sexually inviting.
Some researchers report that females as well as males support the idea that a victim's
provocative dress is an attributed cause of rape (Edmonds & Cahoon, 1986; Workman & Orr,
1996). In addition, Workman and Freeburg (1999) also point out that a victim's dress has
influence only when responsibility is attributed to a victim, not to a perpetrator. They suggest
that a victim's dress, as well as alcohol consumption, is correlated with rape myth acceptance.
Subjects with high rape myth acceptance rated female victims who wore a short skirt as more
responsible for the assault, suggesting the victim wants sex more, leads men on more, is less
likely to mean no, and has less emotional pain. These reports indicate that regardless of gender,
subjects who strongly believe rape myths will potentially attribute greater responsibility to the
victim and minimize the perpetrator' s responsibility when the victim wears provocative dress,
even though the dress style may simply be 'in trend' and not be for sexual appeal.
Misinterpretation of Females' Sexual Interest
Males' misperception of females ' sexual interest could also be a contributing factor,
especially in acquaintance rape situation. Abbey' s (1982) study shows males perceive female's
behavior as more promiscuous and seductive than females do and males judge females in more
sexual terms than females do. Men seem to misinterpret female ' s verbal and non-verbal (e.g.

21
eye-contact, touching, or kissing) friendliness as seduction and misjudge whether she is sexually
interested in them or not (Abbey, 1982; Abbey & Melby, 1986). Ellis ( 1994) reports that due to
the influence of pornography, movies and/or jokes, men may lack distinction between seductive
and coercive behavior. By perceiving coercion as seduction, men may allow themselves to
continue with sexual advances and view the resulting forced intimacy as not being rape.
Combined with other risk factors like alcohol and revealing clothes, females' attitude and
behavior have more risk of being regarded as sexually promiscuous as a suitable target for sexual
advances.
Stormo (1997) found that females' behaviors against a traditional gender role are
perceived as sexual interest; however, most of the behaviors, except touching male's thighs, were
not significantly connected to victim blame in her study. Stormo (1997) explained the reason for
this finding of the victim's touch behavior being more sexual or intimate. Revealing clothes or
alcohol, especially in a party situation, are possibly perceived as normative for participants since
alcohol and revealing dress are typically involved in social events among college students. As a
result, a greater degree of these risk factors may be needed for college student populations to
consider the victim's behaviors as a violation of the traditional gender role in which females are
expected to behave.
Bondurant and Donat (1999) point out that not all males perceive females' behavior in a
sexual context at the same degree. They suggest that college students who have engaged in
sexually aggressive behavior perceive women's behavior to be significantly more sexual than do
other men or women. The sexually aggressive male students perceived higher levels of sexual
interest from both women ' s friendly and romantic behaviors. This suggests sexually aggressive
men may be less likely to read cues inferring that a woman doesn't want sex than less sexually

22
aggressiVe men. Bondurant and Donat (1999) state, "it may not be the actual behaviors of the
women that put them at risk. Rather, it may be the selective interpretation on the part of certain
men that places women at risk" (p. 700). As Lam and Roman (2009) point out, however, it is
difficult to identify sexually aggressive men or potential perpetrators in advance. In addition, the
victims, especially of acquaintance or date rape, may have previously had positive feelings
toward the perpetrator. In acquaintance or date rape situations it may become more confusing
for the woman, especially if she is afraid that an abrupt refusal may damage or terminate a
developing relationship. The time in which the victim is internally negotiating, between positive
feelings and not being ready to be involved in a physical relationship, may be enough for the
potential perpetrator to perceive the lack of action as a sign of assent to proceed.
VanWie and Gross (2001) examine the correlation, in dating relationships, between the
timing of women's refusal ofunwanted sexual advances and men's interpretation of the refusal
and the results show that there is a significant relationship between the two. The more intimate
the physical contact they engage in before a women refuses, the more strongly men believe the
refusal to be token resistance and it does not mean "no." Men seem less likely to interpret
women 's behavior as a refusal of a sexual advance ifthere islonger latency between the advance
and the refusal. Osman and Davis ( 1999) discuss that the belief in token resistance is an
important indicator that date rape has occurred. Their study indicates that the stronger the belief
in token resistance, the more men will misinterpret the word 'no ' . When perpetrators justify
forced sexual contact with circumstantial factors and feels as if they have control over the victim,
rape occurs more often (Lam & Roman, 2009). Women' s internal negotiation may provide a
man with more control over her and time to justify their behavior, consequently attributing more
blame to her for the incident since she fails to resist immediately. The knowledge about her

23
attacker and failure of immediate resistance may encourage her to attribute more blame on
herself, which may cause the low report rate for acquaintance rape (Kopper, 1996).
Lisak (2008) concludes from the review of past research that the vast majority of campus
rapes are far from benign, in which without excessive amounts of alcohol and too little
communication such a thing would never happen. Furthermore, the majority of non-stranger
rapists are serial violent predators; Lisak (2008) reported that non-stranger rapists show many of
the same motivational factors as stranger rapists. Non-stranger rapists are found to be hypermasculine in their beliefs, impulsive, angry and have a need to dominate women at a higher level
than men who have not committed rape; they were also found to be less empathic and social.
Just as convicted stranger rapists, it is as common for non-stranger rapists to be multiple and
chronic offenders. For example, Lisak and Miller (2002) conducted research with 1,882 male
university students. From this sample, they identified 120 men who committed or attempted
rape; 76 men out of the 120 were serial rapists and responsible for an estimated 439 rapes and
attempted rapes, averaging 5.8 each. Their violence rate was ten times that of non-rapists in the
same group as out of the 3,698 violent acts that the 1,882 men committed, 1,045 of the violent
acts were by the 76 serial rapists alone.
However, Lisak (2008) stated that due to the low rate of acquaintance rape that get
reported, non-stranger rapists were almost never prosecuted. Worse, the non-stranger rapists did
not view themselves as rapists since they did not fit the widespread belief that "rapists were
knife-wielding men in ski masks who attacked strangers" (p. 6). This is assumed to be an excuse
to let them intentionally misunderstand or ignore a female's "no" sign and commit multiple
sexual assaults.

24
Cultural Differences
Cross-cultural studies in the area of sexual assault are limited, particularly with Asian
populations (Kennedy & Gorzalka, 2002; Mori et al. , 1995). In the cross-cultural studies
conducted in North America, African Americans, Latino and Native Americans are the main
ethnic groups chosen to compare with Caucasian groups (Mills & Granoff, 1992). These studies
indicate minority group members, in general, hold a greater belief in gender stereotyping and
rape myths and consequently they attribute more responsibility and blame to the rape victims
than Caucasians (Jimenez, 2000).
Jimenez (2000) conducted research to compare Latino/a students and Caucasian students.
All the students received a package of The Rape Empathy Scale (RES), Attitudes Toward Rape
Victims Scale (ARVS), The Rape Myth Acceptance Scale (RMAS) and one of four date rape
scenarios about a (1) Caucasian couple, (2) Latino couple, (3) Latino male and Caucasian female
couple, and (4) Caucasian male and Latina female couple. The results show Caucasian females
students were more likely to report significantly more positive attitude toward the victim and
more accurate perceptions of rape when the victim was a Caucasian; whereas Latina female
students were more likely to fail to report positive attitude toward the victims, but reported more
accurate perceptions of rape when the victim was a Latina female . Torres-Pryor (2003) also
reports in her study with Latino/a college students that Latino/a students, overall, hold more
gender role stereotyping beliefs and their beliefs are significantly related to rape myth acceptance.
Glacopassi and Dull (1986) conducted research with Caucasian and African American
students to determine if there are differences in rape myth acceptance and attribution ofblame
among two different groups; race groups and gender groups. The results indicate, in general, that
males are more likely to accept rape myths than females and African American students are more

25
likely to accept false or stereotypic thinking regarding rape than Caucasian students. African
American males more strongly believe that females are responsible for the incident and even
believe that females falsely blame males for rape. African American males seem more defensive
in males' attitudes than Caucasian males. On the other hand, African American females are
more likely than Caucasian females to perceive both victim and offender as blameworthy and
they are more likely to subscribe false or stereotypic thinking regarding rape toward both victim
and offender. They were not sure what the cause of the African American females' tendencies
were, but assumed social stereo typic bias (e.g. African American males are the typical rape
offender) may affect African American students' perspectives regarding rape, especially African
American males'.
Mori et al. (1995) examines the difference between Asian and Caucasian college students
in the United States. The study indicates that Asian subjects, especially Asian males, reported
significantly more negative attitudes toward the victims, held more rape myth beliefs, and had
lower self-esteem than Caucasian subjects. A significant difference was observed among Asian
male and female subjects' scores on the scales used in the study; however, there were no
significant differences observed among Caucasian males and females. Mori et al. (1995) also
report the high victim blame, high rape myth acceptance and low self-esteem of Asian students'
may result from Asian cultural traditions and lead them to failure of labeling their experiences as
sexual assault or victimization.
Kennedy and Gorzalka (2002) also examine the difference between Asian and non-Asian
students at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Canada and the results support the
findings ofMori et. al. (1995). Asian students are significantly more likely to accept rape myths
and are more likely to tolerate sexually harassing behavior than non-Asian students. Asian male

26
students were found to be more likely to accept rape myths than Asian female students. They
also focus on the length of residency in Canada for Asian students. This research found that the
more time Asians spent exposed to "Western" culture, or the longer their periods of residency in
Canada, acted to decrease acceptance of rape myths and sexually harassing behaviour in both
genders. This finding may suggest that acculturation would help international students from
Asia to change their beliefs and attitudes regarding rape and eventually avoid the risks of sexual
assaults.
Bell, Kuriloff and Lottes (1994), on the other hand, did not find significant difference in
the attributions ofblame to the victims among African-Americans, Asians, and Caucasian
subjects in their study.

Traits of Japanese Females
Research on the Japanese population in rape situations is scarce in cross-cultural studies.
Mills and Granoff ( 1992) conducted research regarding date and acquaintance rape with
university students in Hawaii. Hawaii has a very large Asian population, thus the breakdown of
the ethnicities of the participants were; 30.6% of Japanese, 18.3% of mixed Asian, 17.4% of
Caucasian and approximately 59% of the participants were born and raised in Hawaii. The
results suggest that Caucasian and Japanese experience more sexual assault than any other ethnic
females. In addition, a substantial number of Japanese females were unable to label their
victimization.
Yamawaki (2002) conducted research regarding rape perception with American students
attending university in the U.S . and Japanese students attending university in Japan. The results
suggest that Japanese students showed a significantly greater degree of rape-supportive belief
acceptance and attribution of more responsibility on the victim, but less on the perpetrator, than

27
American students. Japanese students are also more likely to attribute more responsibility for the
rape to the victim of date and marital rape than American students.
Both studies suggest there may be a strong relationship between Japanese culture and
their attitude and behavior toward the rape victims. Yamawaki (2002) points out two
characteristics of Japanese culture that may contribute to Japanese people' s perception of rape,
(a) the influence of Confucianism and (b) collectivism in Japan.
Confucianism prescribes the rigid sex roles of women as being "submissive, compliant,
and nurturing (providing service and pleasure to men)" (Yamawaki, 2002, p.l5). Women are
regarded as sex objects who are possessed by men (Babior, 1993 as cited in Yamawaki, 2002).
Another Confucian value is power distance, which is defined as "the relationship between
superior and subordinate" (Yamawaki, 2002, p. 21 ). The power distance is seen in the traditional
Asian family, where the husband/father is at the top of the hierarchy and the family members are
required to bring honor to the family and avoid shame (Kim & Hurh, 1985 as cited in Yamawaki,
2002). This traditional Asian family structure, which is based on rigid gender stereotyping, may
have a strong influence on Asian belief systems. As a result, Asian people, including Japanese,
who hold stronger rape myth beliefs may consider the victim behavior which violates traditional
gender roles more shameful and responsible for causing the incident than Western people.
Another implication is that Asian females may be more likely to refuse to define their experience
as rape and may even have risk in revealing their experience and seeking help for mental trauma.
Cross-cultural studies indicate that Asian culture is more collectivistic than Western
culture. Collectivist society, especially Japanese society, is more likely to focus on the
importance of interpersonal relationships than Western individualism (Yamawaki, 2002).
Interdependence is a defining factor of self for people in a collectivistic culture; the interactions

28
between people or groups are defined by the group or status of the person being interacted with.
Therefore, the important task for the people in collectivistic cultures is to belong to an in- group
and to learn the appropriate manners and behaviours in order to further the group and remain a
member. The ability to adjust with a group context and maintain harmony will even affect their
self-esteem. (Gudykunst & Matsumoto, 1997). This is especially valid in Japanese society, as
even its language implies harmony with others is extremely important; for instance, "wa" in
Japanese language means both harmony and Japanese style. It is therefore important to Japanese
students studying in North America to act accordantly with North American group norms, no
matter how risky and/or harmful they may be. In a new society, Japanese students may lack
proper judgment for the situation they are in; for example, in a party situation they may dress,
consume alcohol and behave in the way the other participants do, not necessarily in the way
they're naturally inclined to do, which may unintentionally lead them to trauma situations like
rape.
Even when Japanese people recognize their limitations and try to refuse excessive offers
from their peers in North America, they may be misunderstood due to their communication style.
Gao (2005) reported that the value of harmony in Japanese culture is reflected in its language.
Japanese people use cautious and indirect speech to avoid disagreement as much as possible.
The Japanese language has a variety ways to avoid saying 'no ' and even 'yes' may be used in
negative context meanings like "Yes, I understand what you are saying but . .. ," whereas "in
English, ' yes ' and 'no ' clearly means acceptance and rejection" (Gao, 2005, "4. Indirectness,"
para. 2). This difference in language use no doubt causes misunderstandings between Japanese
and North Americans when Japanese people simply translate their Japanese expressions into
English.

29
The use of indirect and ambiguous words in speech is the trait of high-context
communication, which is seen mainly in collectivistic culture. In high-context communication,
the listeners require sensitivity and ability to capture what the speakers intend to say accurately
from what they actually say (Gudykunst & Matsumoto, 1997). North American society, which is
an individualistic society, mainly uses low-context communication. It is difficult to expect the
sensitivity and ability of high context communication from North American listeners, and yet, it
becomes crucial for Japanese students in North America to transfer their communication style
from high-context to low-context and use more direct, explicit, open, and precise (Gudykunst &
Matsumoto, 1997) expressions to adjust themselves and perhaps avoid risks in North American
society.
In addition to the high context communication, Makino and Takemura (1994) also report

that concessional behaviors, defined as "the behavior of abandoning some resources for someone
else," are seen in Japanese interpersonal relationships (p.771). They discovered in past research
that Japanese people tend to follow the suggestions or commands of others, rather than being
self-assertive. They introduce the study ofWalster et al. (1976) and describe how "Japanese
people voluntarily receive fewer resources and are satisfied with participating in inequitable
relationships through concessional behaviors," although most people are uncomfortable or
unhappy in such relationships (pp.771). They explain that Japanese people may build
harmonious relationships through these concessional behaviors. The behaviors may work to
build harmony in Japanese society, but they have the potential to be taken advantage of in North
American society, especially in acquaintance rape situations. Japanese females' lower
assertiveness may be interpreted as a sign of "yes" to sexual advances by potential perpetrators;

30
even in unwanted sexual situations Japanese females may obey the perpetrators to keep harmony,
especially if they had any positive feelings toward the perpetrator in advance.
Hahm, Lahiff and Barreto's (2006) research may also suggest another potential risk
factor for Japanese females in North America. They examined the sexual activity of Asian
American adolescents and found out the influence of American cultural values regarding sexual
activities is greater on young Asian women than on young Asian men. They explain the cause of
this difference, referring to the past research and pointing out the dating tendencies of Asian
women in North America. Hahm, Lahiff and Barreto (2006) suggest dating with non-Asian
partners is another major process for Asian women to acculturate, highlighting the past research
outcomes which suggest young Asian American women raised in the States are more likely to
have American attitudes around sex, higher frequency of dating Caucasians and that these
women have higher frequency in interethnic dating and marriage, especially with Caucasians.
The author's observation of Japanese female students in Canada shows these students also seem
to obtain this tendency which could possibly lead them to risky situations unless they are
assertive enough to express their feelings directly to avoid the risks of being taken advantaged of
and/or sexually victimized.
However, some of the past researches indicated that in general, Asian people are less
assertive than North American people due to their cultural values. Fukuyama and Greenfield
(1983) analyzed the difference between Asian-American and Caucasian students regarding
assertiveness and the findings indicated that Asian-American students showed lower level of
overall assertion than Caucasian students. They explained the difference may be connected to
cultural norms of Asian-American population, such as placing value on harmony and avoiding
discomfort in interpersonal relationships. Some researchers specifically compared Japanese

31
students with American students to observe the difference of assertiveness and the results also
indicated that Japanese students are less assertive than American students (Ishii & Thompson,
1989; Singhat & Nagao, 1993). Ishii and Thomson (1989) reported Japanese students are
significantly less assertive and more responsive than American students in oral communication
with others; from the result they assumed in Japan people are more apprehensive than Americans
and they do not have to be explicit in order to convey their messages in oral communication
situations. Singhat and Nagao's (1993) finding also supported Ishii and Thompson (1989) that
Japanese students are less assertive than American students. In addition, they reported,
compared with American students, that there was a wider gap between the perception and
performance of assertive behaviors among Japanese students. They assumed due to the influence
from Western individualism, Japanese students may perceive individualistic characteristics such
as assertiveness as an 'ideal' conception but in reality they still feel uncomfortable to take them
into their performance.
One of the possible reasons why Asian people feel uncomfortable with assertiveness is
due to the concept of assertiveness being seemingly opposite to Asian traditional culture.
Branden (1994) defines self-assertiveness as "honoring my wants, needs, and values and seeking
appropriate forms of their expression in reality" (p. 118) while its opposite is when a person feels
the need to push aside their desires in order to avoid upsetting or creating conflict with another
person to maintain the status. Of the two above statements, the opposite attitude is characteristic
of Asian collectivistic society, where it is important to 'belong' to a group. In collectivistic
society the group's wants, needs, and values are more important that the individual's and
expressing individual wants, needs, and values may be considered as a hindrance for keeping
group harmony. Kawamoto (2007) explains it is because of Japanese misinterpretation of the

32
meaning of 'assertiveness ' that they feel uncomfortable to be assertive. Kawamoto (2007) .
mentioned "in a traditional Japanese culture, assertiveness is sometimes regarded or mistaken as
aggressiveness. Direct expressions, even if they are logical and clear, are not always welcome"
(p. 59). In addition, she explains this misinterpretation seems to prevent Japanese women from
being assertive because in Japanese society, women used to be expected to be passive, modest,
and reserved to be a 'well-mannered' wife. Although gender equality has become common in
Japanese society, it is seen that young Japanese women still currently regard their goal to 'be
cute' , which indicates not only in appearance but also pertains to obedient manner. The report
suggests that it is extremely important for Japanese students, especially female students, to be
educated regarding the definition of assertiveness appropriately. At the same time, some type of
training seems to be necessary for them to feel more comfortable to behave in an assertive
manner.
Walsh and Foshee (1998) stated that assertive communication is one of the components
for developing self-efficacy and that it is important for females to improve their self-efficacy in
order to prevent sexual victimization. Shimizu et. al. (2004) reported from their assertive
training among Japanese hospital nurses that assertive training improved the participants' selfesteem. As a result, it is expected that assertive training for Japanese females has the potential to
be effective not only for lessening their likelihood of being sexually victimized but also for
improving their self-esteem, and ultimately their well-being.
Help Seeking Attitudes of International Students from Asia
Asian international students in North America face various problems, and not just
language difficulties, cultural shock, homesickness, and adjustment to North American culture.
They may also face financial problems, depression, personal problems, and lack of self-

33
confidence to name a few (Zhang & Dixon, 2001). However, according to the literature, Asian
students ' help seeking attitudes seem to be different from North American students. Dadfar and
Friedlander (1982) found in their research, conducted at a large Midwestern university in the
U.S. , that Western international students (European and Latin) have significantly more positive
attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help than non-Western (Asian and African)
students. They also found that the international students' attitudes are not related to the length of
stay in the U.S., therefore, they assumed that basic attitudes do not seem to be overly affected by
acculturation, although it may help in adapting expectations within situations and that specific
attitude sets seemed to be maintained most strongly by the person's cultural background.
Masuda et al. (2005) specifically focused on the difference of professional psychological
help seeking attitudes between Japanese college students in Japan and the American college
students in California. The results showed that Japanese students have higher stigma and more
negative attitudes toward seeking professional psychological services than American students.
Japanese students are less likely to recognize their need of professional help, open
interpersonally, and have confidence in professional psychological services. Yamawaki's (2010)
research also supports Masuda et al. (2005) findings that Japanese students tend to have more
negative attitudes toward seeking psychological professional help than American students,
although Yamawaki found that gender is a significant predictor for help seeking attitudes; male
students tend to hold more negative attitudes than female, among both Japanese and American
students, whereas Masuda et al. (2005) found a significant gender difference among American
students but not among Japanese students.
Masuda et al. (2005) introduced Fukuhara's (1986) report to show the possibility of
Japanese students' negative attitudes stemming from lack of knowledge about counseling and

34
from hold cultural stigma regarding self-disclosure (cited in Masuda et al., 2005). In sexual
assault situations, Japanese females may not be able to ask for help for what they experienced as
they tend to hold not only high stigma toward mental health service but also strong rape myths,
as the reviewed literature indicates. In fact, Mills and Granoff (1992) reported Japanese women
had a substantially lower representation in help seeking for sexual assault trauma and the authors
assumed it may be due to a reluctance or inability to label the assault due to sexual assault
definitions from the women's culture.
Yamawaki (20 10) also looked at the collectivistic precepts of interdependence and
independent self-construal as it would affect perspectives in relation to mental health services
and discovered that those who are more individualistic in nature were more positive toward help
seeking, regardless of ethnicity. Similarly, some researchers commonly addressed the finding
that prior counseling experience is a significant predictor of open attitudes toward mental health
service regardless of ethnicity (Dad far & Friedlander, 1982; Komiya & Eells, 2001; Masuda et
al., 2005). These findings seem to show the negative potential in that Japanese students may not
ask for help from professional mental health services or student services on campus and/or in
community. The findings, however, also seem to show the positive potential in that they may
become open toward these services if they have an opportunity to connect directly to the services
and to somewhat express themselves.
Acquaintance Rape Prevention Programs

Some researchers reviewed the past educational rape prevention programs and
summarized their outcomes and problems (Lonsway, 1996; Lonsway et. al., 2009; Yeater &

0 'Donohue, 1999). Almost all of the programs target university/college students, who are a high
risk population of acquaintance rape. Programs are designed for either single-gender or mixed-

35
gender programs, but the majority of them are mixed-gender. The goals of the programs are a
combination ofthe following features : (a) to increase awareness and knowledge ofrape, (b) to
diminish rape myths acceptance and rape supportive attitude, (c) to promote victim empathy, (d)
to increase the recognition of risky situations, and (e) to promote clear and effective
communication skills to prevent risky situations. Attainment of these goals is in the form of
lectures, group discussions, audio/video tape presentations, role plays, and presentations by
actual victims. The outcomes indicate these programs were effective in increasing the
participants' awareness and knowledge regarding sexual assault, desirable change in rapesupportive attitudes, and the confidence and/or intention to avoid the risk of sexual assault
(Lonsway, 1996; Lonsway et. al. , 2009; Yeater & O'Donohue, 1999).
The efficacy of these programs, however, is also questioned by the researchers due to the
methods to measure efficacy (Lonsway, 1996; Lonsway et. al. , 2009; Yeater & O'Donohue,
1999). In almost all of the programs, the efficacy of the program was measured and/or evaluated
immediately after the program was delivered, which could strongly influence the participants to
provide the "right" answer for the measurements (Lonsway et. al. , 2009; Yeater & O'Donohue,
1999). In addition, although almost all ofthe outcomes showed desirable changes in rapesupportive attitudes and intention, changing an attitude does not imply a change in actual
behavior, thus it is difficult to measure the effectiveness of a program to change behavior in a
hazardous situation (Yeater & O'Donohue, 1999). The past rape preventions evaluate their
efficacy based on the assumption that "attitudinal changes are assumed to result in behavioral
changes" (Lawson, 2006, pp. 2). Even so, there is minimal empirical evidence found that
supports this assumption. Sexual assault prevention programs should be aiming at reducing the
amount of assaults which occur among the programs recipients (Yeater & O'Donohue, 1999).

36
This implies it is important to design programs so as to observe the participants' behavioral
changes.
Hanson and Gidycz (1993) conducted an exceptional study which was able to
demonstrate the efficacy of their program in increasing behavioral changes. The participants
were 360 female college students and they were randomly divided ipto either the treatment group
or the control group. Both group participants were asked to complete the outcome measures at
the beginning of the academic quarter and then asked to return at the end of the quarter (9 weeks
later) to respond again. The participants in the treatment group participated in the sexual assault
prevention program after completing the outcome measures, whereas the participants in the
control group were dismissed. The goals ofthe acquaintance rape prevention program were "(a)
to increase participants' awareness of the pervasiveness of sexual assault, (b) to dispel common
myths about rape, (c) to educate participants regarding social forces that foster a rape-supportive
environment, (d) to educate participants regarding practical strategies for preventing rape, (e) to
alter dating behaviors associated with acquaintance rape among program participants, (f) to
foster effective sexual communication for program participants, and (g) to reduce the incidence
of sexual assault in a 9-week period among program participants. (p.l 04 7). The findings of this
study suggested, for women who had no history of sexual assault, that the program was effective
in lowering the incidence of sexual assault. This may be due to the fact that the participants
changed their knowledge regarding the problem of sexual assault and dating behavior. Among
the women with no history of sexual assault in the treatment group, 6% were victimized, whereas
14% in the control group were victimized. This shows that the ones without the program were
twice as likely to be victimized. The implication is that early delivery of the program could help
to minimize incidents for women with no history of sexual victimization.

37
Hanson and Gidycz (1993) discovered that a history of sexual assault victimization is a
major aspect in future experiences of victimization and the cycle of such experiences can be
especially hard to change. Despite the remarkable behavioral change among females with no
history of victimization, they could not find any significant effect among females with a history
ofvictimization. Yeater and O' Donohue (1999) pointed out this difference of effect among
high-risk and low-risk population to explain another doubt concerning the efficacy of past
programs. They mentioned that within universities/colleges, sexual assault education is not in
the policies of these institutes, nor is it a mandatory requirement, and so the participants in the
past programs are self-selected and probably most likely to have the lowest potential to engage in
sexually aggressive behavior. As a result, they proposed that the observed efficacy in the past
programs were also due to the low-risk participants.
Klaw et. al. (2005), however, reported that long-term programs were effective in healing
the female participants with a history of victimization. They conducted the Campus
Acquaintance Rape Education course (CARE), which is a semester-long community health class
offered at a public Midwestern university (Kiaw et. al, 2005; Lonsway, et al. , 1998). The main
purpose of the CARE course is to train undergraduate students to be facilitators for rape
education workshops in campus settings. Although approximately 50% of the participants
choose to just take the CARE course without continuing to work as facilitators (Klaw et al. ,
2005), the participants learn facilitation skills as well as the issues of sexual assaults. In general,
the CARE course succeeded in changing the participants' beliefs and attitudes surrounding rape
and rape myths (Klaw et. al. , 2005; Lonsway et al. , 1998). In the study ofKlaw et. al. (2005),
the female participants with a history of assault reported in the course that the class helped them
to heal from and cope with past experiences of sexual victimization. In addition, the warm and

38
safe atmosphere of the program classes seemed to give survivors the support needed to deal with
the past traumatic incident. At the same time, the other participants without a history also stated
that the program helped them to understand and empathize with survivors. Lonsway et al.
( 1998) reported, from their follow-up program conducted two years later, that the CARE course
participants were less likely to accept rape myths than the students participating in general
courses in human sexuality. The CARE course involved community resources by inviting local
experts such as researchers, medical personnel, police officers, and counselors to engage the
participants in critiquing the social structures; this suggests that in organizing a long-term
effective program, support from community is crucial.
Besides educational approaches, a self.:·defense approach is also common for rape
prevention programs for females (Lonsway et.al., 2009; Yeater & O'Donohue, 1999). These self
defense training programs are designed to provide actual training in self defense, but also
provide education for resistance strategies and high risk situations (Lonsway et. al., 2009). The
participants who complete short-term self-defense training report "feeling some sense of selfimprovement, control over their life, and increased confidence, assertiveness, and independence"
(Yeater & O'Donohue, 1999, pp. 742-743). However, Yeater and O' Donohue (1999) pointed
out that the studies concerned with the efficacy of self defense training are usually focused on
stranger assaults rather than date/acquaintance assaults. This implies that the information in this
approach may only benefit a women confronted with stranger assault. It is important to note
though, there is reason to believe that a woman assaulted by someone she knows may find
herself in a physically compromising situation in which the use of self defense skills may be
questionable or ineffective. Considering the high rate of acquaintance/date rape among student
population, an educational approach seems more appropriate and reasonable for students.

39
Although most of the rape education programs in the past were designed for mix-gender
audiences (Lonsway et. al. , 2009), some researchers suggest a consideration to design singlegender programs (Gidycz et. al. , 2001 ; Lonsway, 1996). Lonsway (1996) insists that gender
plays a part in the reactions of each gender to the education program and the programs should be
designed with respect to different goals, strategies and delivery techniques for each gender. The
'ultimate goal' of these programs should be elimination of any potential for the men to engage in
sexual assault activities, but in reality, this is a difficult goal to achieve (Yeater & 0 'Donohue,
1999). What seems of special importance is the way to communicate to men why they should be
motivated to let go of the power that is gained when they commit such acts; in other words, what
is the benefit to them? The answer to this question for women, what benefit they gain, seems
much more obvious in contrast (Lonsway, 1996). Therefore, Lonsway et. al. (2009) categorize
the programs as prevention programs for men, risk reduction programs for women, and
educational programs for both genders and suggests that three clear types of programs can
produce a wide variety of positive outcomes.
Education approach prevention programs on campus seem to be very accessible,
especially for the international students. This project' s main purpose is to prevent Japanese
female students from being sexually victimized while they are studying in North America. As
this is the goal, the form of risk reduction programs for females may be the best way to proceed,
as Hanson and Gidycz (1993) showed in their research. In addition, if a student support section
on campus - such as counseling services, international office, or any department which functions
for students well-being - organizes the program, the students may become more familiar with the
organizers from the departments and may feel more comfortable in seeking help from them when
in need. A prevention program for international students may be important not only to prevent

40
them from being victimized, but also to connect them to the support systems on campus and
allow them to feel more comfortable in accessing the services.

Summary
The reviewed literature indicates that acquaintance rape is one of the major problems
among college/university student populations in North American society. Although many
studies and programs have been conducted to understand and prevent the problem, the focus has
been on the majority ofNorth American Caucasian students. However, North American society
has welcomed international students from various countries and they also have the same, or
perhaps more, possibility of facing the problem or putting themselves at risk of sexual assault.
If you focus specifically on a Japanese female population, the reviewed literature
indicates Japanese females may have more risk factors for sexual victimization than North
American females because of their cultural attitude and behavior. Japanese communication style
has a high risk of being misinterpreted as sexual interest by potential perpetrators. Their
language barrier and low assertiveness in North American society may be a high risk factor that
leads Japanese females to fail to actively or effectively refuse excessive alcohol consumption and
unwanted sexual advances. Moreover, Japanese traditional gender beliefs encourage Japanese
females to strongly accept rape myths, and consequently, they may be more likely to blame
themselves for the assault and even fail to label their experience as rape. The Japanese
communication style focusing on building harmony with others may be a virtue in Japanese
society; however, in North American society it could be a huge risk factor leading to Japanese
females becoming victims of sexual assaults. As a result, it is crucial for Japanese students, at
the beginning of their new life in North America, to have an opportunity to learn the cultural
differences in communication and the importance of being assertive to avoid the risks.

41

In addition, Japanese students ' high stigma and negative attitudes toward professional
mental health services may prevent them from receiving proper support when they face these
problems during their stay in North America; in a place which is far away from their family and
close friends , with limited support. During difficult times it seems extremely important for them
to have proper knowledge to protect themselves, as well as a connection to social support
systems in order to continue a meaningful and fulfilling experience in North America.
As the reviewed literature shows, psycho-education programs, such as acquaintance rape
prevention programs, are a great opportunity for the participants to build a new support system
and to connect to social support services. Although the majority of rape prevention programs
seem to have been conducted predominantly for North American Caucasian students, it is
important to have a program for international students as acquaintance rape is a problem
affecting not only domestic students but also international students. Furthermore, international
students may be at more risk of acquaintance rape, as noted by the Consulate-General of Japan
(2010). Customizing culturally sensitive programs for international students could potentially
help them become more open toward social services and contribute to their safe studying in
North America.

42

Chapter Three: Program Contents
Purposes of the Program
This program has four main purposes; ( 1) to prevent Japanese female students from being
sexually victimized in North America, (2) to increase the students ' communication skills to avoid
the risks of sexual assault, (3) to increase the students ' self-esteem and confidence in using the
communication skills assertively in risky situations, and (4) to connect the students to support
systems/departments of the institutions they study at through the program facilitators. In order to
achieve these main purposes, there are six sub goals; (a) to increase the participants ' awareness
of the sexual assaults occurring among the student populations in North America, (b) to decrease
the level of the participants' rape myths acceptance, (c) to educate the participants regarding the
norms and problems of students ' in North America, (d) to educate the participants regarding
expected attitudes and behaviors in order to keep them safe and involved in North American
society, (e) to foster the participants' English communication skills for declining unwanted offers
and decreasing the risk of rape, (f) to foster the participants' self-esteem to increase confidence
in using newly acquired communication skills, attitudes and behaviors and (g) to build a strong
trustworthy relationship with the participants through the entire program.

Program Framework
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2004) proposes well-organized
strategies for organizing a rape prevention program. The CDC (2004) explains the central four
public health principles for sexual violence prevention and this project aims to follow these
principles. The four principles are (1) health of the public, (2) data-informed approaches, (3)
cultural competency, and (4) prevention.

43

(1) Health of the public. The CDC (2004) explains public health as being ultimately
concerned with the health of a population, rather than individuals, and aiming benefits towards
the largest group of people possible. There is a Jack of prevention programs for international
students in North America, and as a result, this project is organized for these students; however,
it also aims to organize a culturally sensitive program to allow the students an opportunity to
shift their perspectives and communication skills to those appropriate in North America in a safe
environment. From within this larger population of international students, this project focuses
specifically on one national and one gender population, Japanese female students.

(2) Data-informed approaches. The CDC proposes four steps of the public health
approach for organizing rape prevention programs and they should be the base of all phases of
program planning and implementation. The four steps are (a) define the problem (collecting data
which clarify the problem), (b) identify risk and protective factors (collecting data to plan the
content of their program), (c) develop and test prevention strategies (collecting data to design
prevention programs and to increase the program acceptability), and (d) ensure wide spread
adoption (establish a standard prevention strategy which can be adopted in a variety of settings).
According to past research, it seems obvious that acquaintance rape is a major problem among
college/university student populations and Japanese female students have the potential to put
themselves into risky situations of rape due to their communication style and their cultural
beliefs. Furthermore, even after they are sexually victimized they may not be able to perceive
their experience properly and ask help for their mental trauma (step a). In order to support safe
acculturation, providing information about the cultural difference in communication style,
problems and risks they may face in North America and training their English communication
skills are crucial (step b). Therefore, this project aims to develop a culturally sensitive rape

44
prevention program for Japanese female students (step c) and aims to provide the information in
this project so it may become a standard prevention strategy for educational institutions in North
America which have students from Japan (step d).
(3) Cultural competency. The CDC (2004) insists cultural competency is a key principle
and it is important to receive guidance from the target population for all of the activities for the
prevention program, such as collecting and analyzing data, designing and implementing
programs, and evaluation of programs. They also advise that direct translation of materials
between languages, such as English to Japanese, is not considered culturally-appropriate or
relevant as this does not take into consideration the different thought processes or ways of
communicating that exist in other cultures.
This program focuses on the cultural difference in interpersonal communication style
because it is assumed that the Japanese indirect and ambiguous communication style increases
the risk of sexual assaults in North American social life, especially among student population.
This program is designed to provide information regarding assertiveness training as well as
information on the issue of acquaintance rape. In order to effectively shift their communication
style into an assertive one and enhance their self-esteem enough to encourage them to stay and
study in North America, this program includes features focusing on cultural differences.
One of the features of this program is the delivery method, which involves shifting
gradually from a Japanese educational style of delivery to a North American educational style of
delivery as the program progresses. A report by the participants of the Michigan Educators
Travel to Japan (ETJ) in a publication of the parent association of the Japanese school of Detroit
(2006-2007) shows a typical classroom situation in Japan, in which there is little discussion
between teachers and students, and students are not allowed to speak out freely. In the report,

45

one of the Japanese teachers commented "the students who return from the US ask far too many
questions in class, which makes their transition back to Japan a little more difficult" (p. 2). This
comment describes well how the students in Japan are discouraged from speaking out in class; it
is no wonder Japanese students are passive and seldom speak out spontaneously in North
American classes. Taking this into consideration, a discussion based delivery, which is common
in North America, may make Japanese students feel uncomfortable; however, one of the major
purposes of this program is to increase their communication skills towards those more
appropriate in North American society. The main program is divided into two sections, which
will be held over two weeks, in order to shift the delivery method from a Japanese lessinteractive style to a North American more-interactive style. The report by Kasuya (2008) is
good material for the facilitators to read in order to understand the differences of classroom
interactions between Japan and North America. In the report, she explains the effect of power
distance, which is one of the dimensions of culture (Hofstede, 1986 as cited in Kasuya, 2008), in
classroom interaction. In a large power distance society, such as Japan, the teacher is dominant
and the students are expected to follow the teacher' s instructions and the goals (s)he sets for
students without question. In contrast, in a small power distance society, such as North America,
class is student-centered and the teacher encourages and shows respect for students to express
their opinions and ideas, and to find their own answers. This report would help facilitators
understand the differences and therefore plan the escalating shift in the program appropriately.
The first week consists of four days which include introductions, measurements, and
lectures about the cultural differences between Japan and North America in relation to sexual
assaults, rape myths, and communication styles. Due to the participants' limited English skills
and the difference of classroom interaction, it is appropriate in this phase to interact with the

46
Japanese students using close-ended questions (e.g. Do you agree with the statement? Would you
report the incident if you were the woman?), and simple open-ended questions asking about facts
and/or situational choices (e.g. Who would you talk to about the incident if you had the same
experience?). This style of questioning is presumed to be comparatively easy and more
comfortable for Japanese students new to North America to answer. Since Japanese students are
not accustomed to spontaneous speech in class, the facilitator should ask these questions
individually so the students can figure out who is expected to answer.
The second week consists of three days, which include more interactive materials such as
role plays and discussion. The role play is also gradually leveled-up in such a way as to allow
them to just memorize some expressions and follow the scenario at the beginning of the week
and then later asking them to create their own scenarios referring to the expressions and the
scenarios they have learned. During the activities of the second week, the program facilitators
are expected to start asking open-ended questions to gamer the students' opinions and ideas (e.g.
What do you think she could have done to prevent the incident? When and what would you say if
you were the woman in this scenario?). The facilitators will also gradually start asking open
ended questions of the students overall and wait for spontaneous answers (e.g. How can we
change the ending of the scenario? Do you have any ideas?). These interactive practices on day
five and six are leading to the free style role play and discussion based class on day seven, which
is the last day of the main program.
This program includes a follow-up session eight weeks after the main program ends. By
the follow-up session, the participants are expected to have become more acculturated and to
have improved their English skills through regular classes and daily life; thus the follow-up
session should be conducted in a completely North American discussion based approach.

47

In order to help the participants feel comfortable using the assertive English expressions
they learned throughout the program in real life, a cognitive approach is used during the
assertiveness training. The cognitive approach is useful and.effective to facilitate the awareness
of a belief system and to modify it. Cognitive approach offers a process to evaluate thoughts,
beliefs, assumptions, rules, and so on, in order to examine them if it is practical and/or accurate,
and to challenge and/or modify them in order to alter the negative personal schema (Leahy,
2003). As reviewed literature indicated, Japanese people' s communication style seems to be
affected by Japanese culture; harmony is priority. In the culture, Japanese people may generally
hold the belief "to keep harmony is more important than to express my own wants and needs."
On the other hand, in individualistic society, such as in North America, it is encouraged to
express individual wants and needs, and especially in order to avoid risks, it is necessary to
express them assertively. Therefore, Japanese people may need to evaluate and examine if the
belief developed in Japan is still applicable to North American society. If not, they may need to
modify it into a more applicable one such as "In North America, it is more important to express
my wants and needs than to keep harmony especially when I face unwanted invitations and
requests" in order to adjust themselves into North American society more comfortably. Through
its process, cognitive approach is helpful for people from different cultures to achieve a more
flexible attitude towards the cultural differences. As some researchers pointed out (Kawamoto,
2007; Shnghat & Nagao, 1993), Japanese people seem to feel uncomfortable being assertive.
Because of this, it is important for Japanese students in North America to recognize their own
belief system that may be influenced by Japanese society and to modify or adapt it to North
American standards in order to feel more comfortable adjusting their communication style and
behavior, and being assertive during their stay in North America.

48
The last feature is language support. Since the program contents are very important, the
participants are expected to fully understand the program information and materials. It is
presumed the language level of the participants will vary, so in order to facilitate comprehension,
all of the handouts used in class, such as powerpoint handouts, additional handouts, and so on,
need to be provided to the participants before each day of the program as homework; the
participants are asked to check the vocabulary they do not know in advance. In addition, at the
beginning of each day it is important for the facilitators to check the vocabularies and phrases
Japanese participants do not understand. By doing this, the facilitators can assist students with
the proper pronunciation of words that may not be easily acquired just by reading it. The
homework will help the participants, to some extent, balance the difference of the varying
English abilities, support them in understanding the contents and materials ofthe program, and
also help them to have better understanding of the lecture.
In addition, it is also helpful to choose non-confrontational expressions to avoid risks for
the program materials. As Gao (2005) explained, Japanese people tend to avoid confrontation
and have a variety of expressions to convey "no" without actually saying it. Japanese people,
because of this cultural background, may feel more comfortable and easily adjust themselves to
the assertive English expressions if they are presented in a non-confrontational manner. It is
essential to introduce comparatively indirect and non-confrontational expressions (e.g. I would
like to go get the drinks with you so I can practice in English how to order drinks) to actually
make them useful for Japanese participants.
(4) Prevention. The CDC (2004) also insists that for public health the concept of
prevention is central and program contents should focus on this area. As mentioned in the

49
program purpose, this project's main purpose is to prevent Japanese female students from
experiencing sexual victimization and the program contents are organized to achieve this.
When is the Program Held?

The CDC (2004) proposes three categories for the timing of sexual violence interventions,
primary prevention (before sexual violence happens), secondary prevention (immediately after
sexual violence has happened), and tertiary prevention (when sexual violence has happened at
some point in the victim 's past). This program aims to prevent Japanese female students from
experiencing sexual victimization in North America, so it seems most practical to have the main
program on the first and second week of their first semester, which is right after their arrival in
North America, and the follow-up program on the tenth week of the semester, which is near the
end of the semester. This program is appropriately organized to be held right after the students'
arrival because it contains information about cultural differences and English skills practice,
which is important to start their student life in North America, as well as being helpful in
avoiding sexual victimization. Hanson and Gidycz (1993) also suggest, based on the outcome of
their study, that early administration could make prevention programs useful for women to avoid
sexual victimization. In addition, program delivery and language support for the program are
aimed at supporting the newly arrived students in adjusting themselves to North American norms
more easily.
Who is the Program for?

The CDC (2004) also categorizes the participants of the programs into three groups;
universal interventions (approaches targeting the population at large regardless of individual
risk), selected interventions (approaches targeting populations/individuals regarded as having
higher risk factors), and indicated interventions (approaches targeting populations/individuals

50
who have experienced victimization). Thi s program applies to selected interventions,
specifically targeting Japanese female students who attend post-secondary educational
institutions in North America for more than one semester. Japanese international/exchange
students and ESL students at universities and colleges are the main prospective participants for
this program. There are two reasons for this target population. First, this program aims at
measuring the participants' behavioral change toward rape prevention, and as a result, this
program is consisted of a main and follow-up program with eight weeks interval in between.
Therefore, international/exchange students who attend a post-secondary educational institution
for more than one semester are the best target population for this purpose. Second, by targeting
the students at post-secondary educational institutions, it is assumed to make it possible to enroll
the students with similar backgrounds. Universities and colleges in general require the
completion of secondary education. In Japan, there is a national educational curriculum
organized by Central Council for Education, which is one of the councils in the Ministry of
Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology; elementary schools, junior high schools,
and high schools in Japan are supposed to follow the curriculum. As a result, with the
completion of high school people are supposed to obtain a similar level of educational
background, even though there should be differences among the students in communication
skills in English. In addition, taking the cost of post-secondary education for international
students in North America into consideration, it is assumed that the students come from an
upper-middle class population. In Canada, for example, the average tuition fees for international
undergraduate students was $16,768 in 2010/11 (Statistics Canada, 2010); however, there are
very limited opportunities for international students to obtain financial supports, such as
scholarship and student loans. As a result, in order to obtain a student visa, the prospective

51

students have to prove that they have the financial means to pay both tuition and living costs.
Therefore, it is assumed that the students come from upper-middle class to provide such amount
of money for studying. Due to these backgrounds of the international students from Japan, the
difference among individual participants in geographical background is assumed to not be
significant.
Due to the purpose and organization of this program, short-term students who study in
North America for less than three months are less applicable for this program. As the main
sessions include useful information about the risk factors of student life in North America and
English practice, the institutions which have many short-term international students, such as
language schools, could possibly conduct this program without the follow-up session.
This program also has a focus on the program organizers. One of the main purposes of
this program is to help the participants connect with support systems at the institutions and make
the participants feel more comfortable in accessing these supports. In order to achieve this goal,
it is highly recommended that program facilitators be members of support systems at the
institutions the participants are attending, such as on-campus counselors, officers at the
international students office, coordinators for international students and any similar positions
responsible for supporting international students' life in North America which can continue to
support the students after the program has ended. In view of the program goals, it is anticipated
that program facilitators will build a solid relationship with the participants through the program,
which may help the participants feel more secure in asking for help from the organizers when
they face any problems during their studies at the institutions.

52
Program Contents

This program consists of a seven-day main session and a one-day follow-up session. The
main session is divided into two weeks; the first week (day one to four) is a lecture based
program and the second week (day five to seven) is an activity based program.
The purpose of the first week of main sessions is to provide the knowledge and
information regarding the issue of acquaintance rape and risk prevention. The lecture is
followed with a powerpoint presentation and handouts. Ideally these materials are customized
with a lot of visual effects to help non-English speaking participants understand the content
better. There are some useful websites for referring to in order to custom the materials for
lectures. Womenshealth.gov (http://www.womenshealth.gov/), Rapel Ol.com (http://free-rapestories.comD, Ending Violence Association of British Columbia (EVA BC,
http://www.endingviolence.org/), and Here to Help (http://www.heretohelp.bc.ca/) provide
research based information and ready-to-use handouts regarding sexual assaults and substance
use. This program also refers to Paterson (2000)'s "The assertiveness workbook" for the
assertiveness training components.
The purpose of the second week is to train the participants ' assertive communication
skills, specifically in risky situations for acquaintance rape. Based on the knowledge the
participants acquire in the first week, they are encouraged to challenge their beliefs and thoughts
that may be preventing them from being assertive and practice assertive English communication
in the situations. In addition, in the second week the participants are encouraged to participate in
discussions and role plays actively, which is organized as a part of assertiveness training for
them to express their opinions and ideas.

53

The purpose of the follow-up session is to measure the effectiveness of the program and
collect the feedback from the participants regarding the usefulness and effectiveness of the
program, any potential improvements, and the any other information necessary for the
international students. The follow-up session is conducted in a discussion based class, which
could be another measurement to observe the participants' acculturation.
Week One: Day One: Main Session
Purpose. To build group rapport and measure the participants ' attitude and behavior

toward the risk factors of acquaintance rape right after their arrival in North America.
Objectives.

•

To introduce the program purpose and procedures

•

To build group rapport using ice breaking games

•

To measure the participants' attitudes and behavior regarding the risks of acquaintance
rape.
Procedure.

Introduction (10 minutes). In the first introduction, since the ice-breaking game time is
spared for individual introductions, the program facilitators briefly introduce themselves here
and the purpose of this program (facilitating the awareness of the risk of sexual assaults in North
America and the cultural differences in interpersonal communication, practicing appropriate
communication skills in risky situations, and getting familiar with the helpful resources on
campus for international students) and the program contents (first week is lecture based program
and learning the issues around acquaintance rape and the cultural differences; second week is
activity based program and practicing assertive communication). In addition to the program
contents, it is necessary to mention the differences of class dynamics between North America

54
and Japan and to explain that the facilitators are going to deliver the program gradually shifting
to North American style and the students need to become active participants, which is a basic
step to building English communication skills.

Ice breaking games (30-40 munities). Some ice breaking games are conducted in order
to build group rapport. At first, it is useful and fun to do some introductory games to remember
the facilitators' and the participants' names and basic information such as cities where the
participants are originally from. Although it depends on the group size, it is good to have a
couple of games to help the participants have fun and feel relaxed in the group. Wilderdom
(http://wilderdom.comL) introduces many useful games and activities for ice breaking and
building group on their game section of their website (http://wilderdom.com/games/), which the
facilitators can refer to.

Homework. On Day one, homework is provided to the participants before pre-test in
order to explain the purpose and contents of homework in this program to all the participants.
The facilitators need to explain that all of the handouts the participants receive need to be read
and any vocabulary or expressions they do not understand needs to be identified and looked up
before class.

Pre-test (remainder). Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, Dating Behavior Survey,
Date and Acquaintance rape scale, and Sexual Experiences Survey (See appendix 1, 3, 4 and 5),
are used in order to measure the participants' attitudes and behaviors toward the risk factors of
acquaintance rape. Some modification is added for the purpose of this program and for making
these instruments more suitable for the Japanese participants.

Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test. Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test
(AUDIT) is organized by the World Health Organization (2001) and is a 10-item self-report test.

55
The items are categorized into three groups: hazardous alcohol use (3 items), dependence
symptoms (3 items), and harmful alcohol use (4 items). The first 8 items are scaled by a score
from 0 to 4 and the last 2 items are by a score of 0, 2, or 4. Since the consumption of alcohol is a
major risk factor of acquaintance rape, in this program, 6 items are chosen from the hazardous
alcohol use and the harmful alcohol use categories as the items for pre- and post-test
measurement. In addition, the instructions are modified to ask about the participants' behavior in
Japan for the pre-test.
Dating Behavior Survey . The Dating Behavior Survey is developed by Hanson and
Gidycz (1993) to obtain information regarding the participants ' behaviors in dating settings
which could be linked to acquaintance rape victimization. This is a Likert-type scale with the
responses range from 1 (never) to 7 (always) with the higher score indicating the higher
possibility of involvement in risky situations. Some modification is added in case some of the
participants have no experience of dating, and the statements are made with present tense and
subjunctive mood. (i.e. On the first few dates that we (would) have, I allow my partner to plan
what we do.)
Date and Acquaintance Rape Scale. The Date and Acquaintance Rape Scale (DARS) was
developed by Walsh eta!. (1997) to measure college women ' s susceptibility to date and
acquaintance rape. DARS contains twenty-five items, consisting of four date and acquaintance
rape constructs: perceived vulnerability (5 items), self-efficacy (8 items), self-determination (7
items), and victim-blaming (5 items). Response options are 6: strongly agree, 5: moderately
agree, 4: mildly agree, 3: mildly disagree, 2: moderately disagree, and 1: strongly disagree and
the higher the score, the higher the susceptibility date and acquaintance rape. For the purpose of
this program, some aspects were modified to fit Japanese participants. First, some of the original

56
items are only about a date. It is assumed that in the very first semester, Japanese students would
have had more opportunities to get acquainted with people as friends rather than as dates,
therefore, all the statements imply either a date or a male friend . (i.e. I would never worry about
going home alone with a date or a male friend.) Second, the participants are asked to imagine
that all the indicated situations happen in North America and the indicated males are all North
American males in order to measure the participants' susceptibility in English-spoken
environment.

Sexual Experiences Survey. The Sexual Experience Survey was developed by Koss and
Oros (1982) to assess the participants' past experience of coercive sexual experience without
using the terms "rape" or "sexual assault". This includes 13 items where the participants are
asked to answer either "yes" or "no". Instructions are modified to ask the participants'
experience in Japan. Although the survey is anonymous, it is essential for the facilitators to pay
special attention to the group in order to build a trustful relationship with the participants. With a
trustful relationship in place, the facilitators would be able to encourage the participants to access
supportive resources on campus or contact the facilitators privately occasionally during the
program if the test results indicate the group includes participants with previous victimization.
As Hanson and Gidycz (1993) reported, the prevention program was not effective for the
participants with past victimized experience and they suggested special treatment would be
required for the participants. Therefore, the facilitators have to treat the test result with care and
need to spend extra time building a strong relationship with those participants.
Week One: Day Two.
Purpose. To increase the participants' awareness regarding the issue of acquaintance

rape and the risk factors of victimization.

57

Objectives.
•

To educate the participants regarding the facts and definition of sexual assaults

•

To educate the participants regarding acquaintance rape and its risk factors especially the
ones linking to student social life

Procedure.

Introduction (10 minutes) . The first ten minutes are spared to check the participants '
understanding on the provided materials. Ask verbally any vocabularies and/or phrases they do
not understand, and then the facilitators are able to check if the participants can pronounce them
properly. If a participant shows any difficulty in pronouncing some vocabularies and/or phrases,
let all of the participants practice pronouncing them since Japanese people commonly have a
problem pronouncing certain English sounds (i.g. 'I' and "r" ' s' and 'th ' sounds and etc.). The
facilitators need to pay attention to the participants ' non-verbal behaviors to see if they fully
understand the contents and/or the meaning of the handouts. Since this program is designed to
be conducted right after the participants' arrival in North America and their language skills are
assumed to not be high yet, the facilitators may need to let the participants use some Japanese
language to allow the participants to help each other understand the contents of handouts and/or
facilitators instruction, explanation, and questions.

Lecture (80 minutes) . The purpose of the lecture on Day 2 is to provide the information
regarding the definition of sexual assault, acquaintance rape, and the risk factors of acquaintance
rape in order to let the participants have a clear definition of sexual assault and to increase their
awareness about the issue and the risk factors in their life in North America. As the ConsulateGeneral of Japan in Vancouver (2010) pointed out, generally Japanese people have less
awareness regarding crimes overall and risk prevention, especially regarding sexual assault; so it

58
i·s extremely important to make the Japanese participants recognize the facts of sexual assaults in
order to facilitate their awareness of the need of self-protection and prevention.
There are two main components in this lecture; (1) Facts of sexual assaults, and (2) Risky
situations of acquaintance rape in student life in North America.
(I) Facts of sexual assaults. As Mills and Granoff ( 1992)' s research indicated, there is

high potential that Japanese females cannot identify their experience as sexual assault when they
are assaulted by their acquaintance. Some Japanese females seem to have a narrow definitions of
rape or sexual assaults overall and it is important to provide clear definition of sexual assaults
and acquaintance rape which is the most common form of sexual assault among the student
population. Womensheath.gov (http://www.womenshealth.gov/publications/ourpublications/fact-sheet/sexual-assault.cfm#a), rape 10 1.com (http://free-rapestories.cornlhandouts/definitions.htm), and EVA BC
(http://www.endingviolence.org/public education tools) provide useful information and readyto-use handouts about the definition and facts on sexual assaults and acquaintance/date rape. It is
important here to make the participants aware that forcing them to have sexual advances when
they do not want is a crime even though the person forcing them to do so is their friend or even
their partner. It is also important to make them recognize that acquaintance rape is one of the
major crimes among the student population and it is not a low possibility to be victimized, and as
a result, they need to be cautious to the risks in order to protect themselves from victimization.
(2) Risky situations of acquaintance rape. Alcohol is a significant risk factor of
acquaintance rape and it is reported that 78.7% of the acquaintance rape victims consumed
alcohol when they were assaulted (Benson, Gohm, & Gross, 2007). It is important for the
participants to know the trend of youth drinking in North America and the risks they may face in

59

the drinking situations. Ontario Health Promotion E-bulletin (OHPE, 2008) reported that
although immigrant youth from other cultures show fewer tendencies to drink alcohol than
Canadian youth, they tend to adjust themselves to the norm of youth's excessive alcohol use in
Canada once they identify the norm. It is important for the participants to recognize the problem
of youth drinking in North America and to set their own boundary toward alcohol use. Here to
help provides useful information and handouts regarding the problems and protection around
substance use (http://www .heretohelp. bc.ca/understand/alcohol-drugs ).
In addition, it is also important to educate students not only on the general information

but also on the trends and problems in the local area where each educational institution is located
since North America is vast and countries have different characteristics depending on the areas.
Cronk and Sarvela ( 1997) reported the differences in use of substances between rural and urban
youth in the United States from their research from 1976 through 1992. They found that the
youth in rural areas tend to binge on alcohol significantly more than youth in urban areas, and
that in rural areas high prevalence of binge drinking is seen in both male and female youth,
whereas in urban areas it is seen in only males not in females. It is assumed that peer pressure on
females for drinking and/or intoxicating drinking habits, such as drinking games, would differ in
areas, and therefore, it is necessary to include the information regarding drinking settings,
behaviors, and problems seen among the local students in the area.
Another risk in drinking situations is date rape drugs. Because education regarding drugs
is not common and/or there are only limited opportunities for the education in Japan, it is
extremely important to educate the participants regarding the substances which are commonly
used for sexual assault. It is assumed that many of the participants may not know anything about
date rape drugs and it is essential to provide the detailed information about date rape drugs, such

60
as what are date rape drugs, how they are used, and how to avoid them. Although assertive
communication is basic for rape prevention and that is why one of the main focuses of this
program is assertiveness training, in order to avoid the risks of planned rape with such drugs,
extra cautions besides assertive communication are absolutely necessary. Womensheath.gov
provides a useful handout explaining about date rape drugs and how to decrease the risk
(http://www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/date-rape-drugs.cfm).
In addition, it is useful to educate the participants regarding other common drugs among students'

population, such as marijuana and ecstasy, due to the concern about the Japanese participants'
low awareness of drugs.
Lastly, provide information regarding the characteristics of non-stranger rapists in order
for the participants to possess the ability to perceive the men they should avoid hanging out with
or dating. Lisak (2008) summarized the common characteristics of non-stranger rapists from an
interview with undetected rapists in both research and forensic setting in the past 20 years. It
was found that these undetected rapists: (a) have excellent ability to identify "likely" victims and
to inspect the prospective victims ' boundaries, (b) plan sophisticated strategies to isolate their
victims and prepare for attack, (c) obtain a strong control over their impulse and use violence
only when necessary to terrify and coerce their victims to obey them, (d) use psychological
weapons, such as power, control, manipulation, and threats with physical force backed up, and
seldom use actual weapons such as knives or guns, and (e) use alcohol deliberately to make their
victims more vulnerable. This summary explains why it is hard to detect prospective nonstranger offenders. They almost never exhibit their violent aspect until it is necessary, and
moreover, they may seem even nicer than non-rapist males in order to groom their prospective
victims for attack. Detecting prospective non-stranger offenders may be a difficult task, however,

61

it is still possible to identify the clues to identify potential offenders because of the similarity of
these offenders to stranger rapists. Lisak (2008) mentioned that undetected non-stranger
offenders showed the same motivational matrix of power and anger to incarcerated rapists:
power motivation is his need to control and dominate females and anger motivation is his
resentment and a general hostility towards females. RapelOl.com offers the handout for the
warning signs of prospective acquaintance rapists who are motivated by control and/or anger
(http://free-rape-stories.com/handouts/acguaintance rapists-some warning signs.htm), such as
"emotionally abuses you", "tells you who you may be friends with, how you should dress, or
tries to control other elements of your life or relationship" (Rape 10 l.com, 2004, "Acquaintance
Rapists: Some Warning Signs," para. 1) , and so on. Understanding these characteristics will be
helpful for the participants to identify risky men to hang out with or date and keep the boundary
from them.
Week One: Day Three.
Purpose. To decrease the level of the participants ' rape myths acceptance and diminish

victim blame attitudes
Objectives.

• To educate regarding rape myths and its relation to victim blame
• To provide information about the damages the victims of sexual assault would have
• To increase the participants' awareness that rape victims should not be blamed
• To provide information regarding the way to support victims

62
Procedure.
Introduction (1 0 minutes). Check the participants' understanding of the materials and

make clear the meaning and definitions of English vocabularies or expressions they do not
understand.
Lecture (80 minutes). The purpose of the lecture on Day 3 is to diminish the attitudes of

victim blame. Acquaintance rape often prevents its victims from seeking help because of the
blame they put on themselves (Lam & Roman, 2009), even though the victims should never be
blamed. The lecture on Day 3 focuses on the victims of sexual assaults in order to increase the
participants' empathy toward victims and diminish the attitude of victim blame. There are three
components in this lecture; (1) relationship between rape myths and victim blame, (2)
psychological damage on rape victims, (3) the ways to support the victims.
(I) Relationship between rape myths and victim blame. As an introduction, conduct a

quick check of the participants' attitude toward the victims, using a date rape scenario and the
Sex-Role Stereotypical Victim Blame Attribution Scale (Langhinrichsen & Monson, 1998) (See
appendix 7). The Sex-Role Stereotypical Victim Blame Attribution Scale is a tool to measure
the degree in which people blame female victims and it has five items with a scale ranging from
1: not at all to 6: to a great extent. A date rape scenario is used for this check-up: a female went
to a house party at her boyfriend's house, and after drinking with friends for a while she and her
boyfriend went in his bedroom where she got raped by her boyfriend. This scenario is used as
the victims of date rape tend to be blamed more than the victims of other rape scenarios due to
the closeness of the relationship with the perpetrator. Since the participants are supposed to
finish reading one date rape scenario as homework the previous day and their understanding of
the materials are already checked in the first 10 minutes as introduction, check their responses to

63
each item verbally but with simple questions, such as "How many of you chose ' 6' to this
question?" "Student name, which number did you choose for this question?" and so on. After
checking their responses to the items, ask the participants succinctly if they think the victim is
responsible for the incident and if they define this incident as rape.
After checking the participants' level of victim blaming, start the lecture with the
relationship between victim blame and rape myth acceptance. The past research indicates that
the level of rape myths acceptance has influence on the attitude toward rape victims, gender-role
stereotype beliefs are related to rape myths acceptance (Burt, 1980; Frese, Moya, & Megias,
2004; Jimenez, 2000; Kopper, 1996; Yamawaki, 2002), and Japanese people tend to possess a
stronger gender-role stereotype beliefs and rape myth acceptance than North American people
due to Japanese traditional culture. This makes Japanese people minimize the seriousness of
rape and blame the victim more than North American people (Yamawaki, 2002). Check with the
participants if they agree that people possess stereotypical gender-role beliefs in Japanese society
and if they have experience facing the gender-role beliefs when they were in Japan, with again
simple questions like "In Japan, do you think many people believe that cleaning, cooking, and
raising children are the jobs for women?" "Have you ever been told that you should do
something just because you are female? By whom?" "Do you agree that gender-role stereotypes
are strongly believed in Japanese society?" and so on.
Afterwards, show the participants the list of rape myths and explain that strong genderrole beliefs may allow some people to have distorted beliefs about females who violate
stereotypical gender-roles. Here are some of the rape myths Burt (1980) applied to her study
regarding rape myth acceptance;

64
•

A woman who goes to the home or apartment of a man on their first date implies that she
is willing to have sex.

•

Any healthy woman can successfully resist a rapist if she really wants to.

•

When women go around braless or wearing short skirts and tight tops, they are just
asking for trouble.

•

If a girl engages in necking or petting and she lets things get out of hand, it is her own
fault if her partner forces sex on her.

•

Many women have an unconscious wish to be raped, and may then unconsciously set up
a situation in which they are likely to be attacked.

•

If a woman gets drunk at a party and has intercourse with a man she ' s just met there, she
should be considered "fair game" to other males at the party who want to have sex with
her too, whether she wants to or not.
(Burt, 1980, p. 223)
Using the scenario they already read, explain the model of how victim blame occurs.

Some people who hold these beliefs may think the victim in the scenario deserved what she
experienced due to her drinking and going to the male ' s bedroom, which they believe are things
females "should not" do. Moreover, if the victims of sexual assaults hold the myths, they may
blame themselves and avoid seeking help to protect themselves from being judged and blamed
by others. Ask the participants, especially those who said the victim in the scenario is responsible
for the incident, if they have the same or similar beliefs as these rape myths. It is important here,
however, to educate the participants that it is not wrong to hold these myths, that all people
unconsciously possess distorted beliefs, bias, and judgments influenced by society, family,
education, and our experience more or less, but it is necessary to recognize and modify the

65
distorted beliefs to prevent ourselves from judging and blaming others, and even ourselves. A
female's behaviors and attitudes would never be an excuse for the sexual violence which
substantially damage females physically and mentally.

(2) Psychological damage on rape victims. After the lecture regarding the influence of
rape myths on judgment and blame on the victims, provide the lecture on the psychological
damage on rape victims in order to increase the understanding and empathy toward the victims;
rape victims show symptoms such as depression, anxiety, hostility, and PTSD, and the victims of
acquaintance rape blame themselves much more than the victims of stranger rape (Frazier &
Seales, 1997). In addition, the victims of acquaintance rape are more likely to continually and
unexpectedly encounter the perpetrator on campus or in the community, provoking the trauma
and delaying recovery from the victimization (Lam & Ro~an, 2009). Because of the complex
psychological damage caused by being a victim of acquaintance rape, it is extremely important
to let the participants know the importance of seeking professional help to overcome the
traumatic experience.

(3) The ways to support the victims. At the end, provide information regarding how to
support victims in case the participants have friends who are sexually victimized. Basically the
best way for the participants to support the victims is to become a good listener and be a bridge
to an appropriate support resource. RapelOl.com provides useful information regarding the
attitudes and the ways to become a good listener for the rape victims (http://free-rapestories.com/handouts/how do you help a survivor of sexual assault.htm) . The purpose of the
information on how to support the victims is not only to train the participants to be a good
supporter for their friends, but moreover, to let them recognize that group members, both the
participants and the facilitators, are educated and able to become non-judgmental supports for

66
them when they are in need. By educating the participants how to be a non-judgmental and a
secure listener, they can obtain a safe place to ask for help as well. In addition, it is important for
the facilitators to emphasize that the facilitators themselves are the most secure people for the
participants to ask for help when they are in need and should encourage them to ask for help
from them or to become a bridge for their friends to access appropriate and/or professional help.
Week One: Day Four.
Purpose. To educate the participants regarding assertiveness and support them to
overcome their barriers to be assertive in interpersonal relationship
Objectives.
•

To educate regarding assertive attitudes, behaviors, and communication

•

To let the participants recognize their barriers to prevent them from being assertive

•

To educate the participants on strategies to say "no" assertively
Procedure.

Introduction (10 minutes). Check the participants' understanding of the materials and
make clear the meaning and definitions of English vocabularies or expressions they do not
understand.

Lecture regarding assertiveness (80 minutes) . Day 4 is designed as a transition from a
lecture-based class to an activity-based class. Although there are some interactions involved in
the lecture, in the last two days the participants are still allowed to be passive listeners as they
were in Japan in order to increase their knowledge regarding sexual assaults. Day 4 is designed
as an assertiveness training as the lecture includes some activities, which would be a good
introduction before the activity-based second week. Assertiveness training is an important

67
component for acquaintance rape prevention especially for Japanese females due to their
communication style as previously discussed.
Assertive communication is the base for avoiding the risks of sexual victimization;
however, as Kawamoto (2007) mentioned, assertiveness is regarded or misunderstood negatively
by Japanese people. As a result, it is essential for the participants to understand a clear definition
of assertiveness before training them in assertive communication skills. There are four
components to this lecture; ( 1) The differences of communication style, (2) Belief system
supporting communication styles, (3) Challenging the beliefs which prevent the participants from
being assertive and (4) Strategies to say "no" assertively.
(I) The differences of communication style. Assertiveness is one of four communication

styles with the others being the passive style, the aggressive style, and the passive-aggressive
styles (Paterson, 2000). It is essential for the participants to understand the differences of these
styles, especially differences between aggressive style and assertive one because Japanese people
tend to mistake assertiveness for aggressiveness (Kawamoto, 2007). In addition, it is important
to inform the participants that these differences come from how you behave not from what is
your character. Paterson says "Assertiveness is what you do, not who you are" (2000, p72).
Some participants may think that they cannot be assertive because of their shy or passive
character, however, it is important to help them realize that assertiveness is a skill you can learn
and obtain to develop satisfactory relationships with people. This program offers the opportunity
for international students to develop skills and language competencies to build healthy
relationships with English speaking individuals. After teaching the different communication
styles, let the participants recognize their communication style using a checklist. Paterson
(2000) introduces a useful check list to figure out which style is the most used in five personal

68
aspects; behavior, nonverbal style, beliefs, emotions, and goals. The checklist includes the
description of what each style looks like in each aspect; people check the most suitable
description about themselves and find out which style is the most used by them.

(2) Belief system supporting communication styles. Paterson (2000) explains that our
beliefs are one of the barriers that prevents us from being assertive. We interpret and react to
situations through our beliefs, which have been developed from education and personal
experience. Beliefs remain for many years and become automatic while some of them may even
become distorted and as a result, can affect our feelings, attitudes, and behaviors. In order to
dismantle or alter the unhelpful belief system we unconsciously have developed, it is important
to be aware of the beliefs we hold.
After the participants understand the influence of the belief system, which affects their
attitudes and behaviors, show them the examples of beliefs that support each style. Provide the
list of beliefs Paterson (2000) introduces, such as "Being assertive means being selfish" (p. 56),
"I am only worthwhile as long as I am doing something for someone else" (p.57), "I'm entitled
to be angry" (p. 59) and so on. Ask the participants to check the beliefs they agree with.

(3) Challenging the beliefs. After checking their beliefs, then challenge their beliefs
verbally, using close-ended questions. First, ask one participant to tell one of the beliefs she
checked. If the participant chose the belief "Being assertive means being selfish" (Paterson,
2000, p. 56), for example, then ask the participant some questions such as "When you discuss a
plan on weekend with your friends, do you think it's selfish to say 'I would like to go to a
movie'?" "When your friend is against a singer you like, do you think it's selfish to say 'But I
like her songs and her up-beat songs boost my energy'?" and so on. Then rewrite the belief into

69
a more practical and adoptable one such as "Being assertive means being respectful for my
preferences, wants, needs, and opinions as well as others." The first round is an example for the
participants and then for the next belief, the facilitators ask the participants to think of
challenging questions to the beliefs and challenge each other, and then ask them to think of new
reasonable beliefs and rewrite the beliefs ofthe list.

(4) Strategies to say "no" assertively. After letting the participants recognize that
assertive communication is a way to respect their right to express themselves as well as others ' ,
then remind them that they have the right to say "no" to requests and offers which they do not
want or they are not willing to accept, whereas others have the right to ask them. Also, remind
them assertive communication is a basic step to protect themselves from the risk of being
sexually victimized.
The first important strategy for Japanese students is to understand the contents of requests,
invitations, and/or offers clearly; otherwise they should never accept them. Because of their
limited English language skills, it is assumed that many of the Japanese students sometimes have
difficulties in understanding what they are offered, especially when North American students use
phrases and/or slang they are not familiar with. It is extremely important for Japanese students
to realize that understanding the content is a necessary step to avoid risks and to deal with the
situation assertively. It would be useful to provide a vocabulary list of slang terms which are
used among the student population to imply drugs and sexual activities.
If Japanese students understand the requests, invitations, and/or offers clearly, it is useful
for them to know strategies for saying no as introduced by Paterson (2000).
•

Use assertive body posture.

70
•

Decide on your position before you speak.

•

Wait for the question.

•

Decide on your wording.

•

Don't apologize when it isn ' t necessary.

•

Don 't defend yourself or make excuses when it isn 't necessary.

•

Don't ask permission to say no.

•

Strengthen your position.

•

Don' t wait for acceptance.

•

Accept the consequences.

(Paterson, 2000, p. 151-153)
Based on these strategies, there are three tactics to practice in order to say no assertively;
fending off requests, to think before giving agreement, and delaying agreement (Paterson, 2000),
and these strategies and tactics are practiced in the second week. Before the second week starts,
the participants are encouraged to memorize the strategies and the handouts for the next session,
which includes the useful English expressions for fending off requests and delaying agreement,
as much as possible.
Feedback (the reminder) . It may be useful to ask for the participants' opinions about the

program so far and what they expect for the rest of the program after they acquire knowledge
about acquaintance rape and cultural difference in communication. In order to provide the
participants with enough time to review the contents of the program, have them consider any
wants/needs toward the program and write their opinions in English; it is useful to collect the
information via e-mail. The facilitators ask the participants to write their opinions about the

71

current program and what they expect in the next week and send it to the facilitator via e-mail
within two days. The interval between Week One and Week Two enables the facilitator to have
time to partially modify the rest of the program along with the participants' wants and needs.
Since Japanese students are not used to showing their opinions and requests toward authority
regarding class in Japan, however, it may be necessary to ask only for the participants'
spontaneous response and not to make it mandatory for the participants to send the feedback.
The facilitators may need to be flexible to set the criteria of the feedback depending on the
participants' level of English skills, level of acculturation, and attitudes observed in class.
Week Two: Day Five.
Purpose. To allow the participants an opportunity to practice English expressions saying

"no" or to delay agreement and to diminish their automatic thoughts which may make them feel
uncomfortable to decline unwanted offers and/or requests
Objectives.

• To practice useful English expressions to say "no" or to show disagreement
• To practice the English expressions in a role play situation
•

To help the participants realize their rules and assumptions in interpersonal relationships

• To evaluate the participants' rules and assumptions and change them into rational ones
Procedure.

Speaking practice (10 minutes). First, check the participants' understanding of the
handouts for today, then one of the facilitators reads out the expressions on the handout "useful
English expressions" (See appendix 8) and asks the participants to repeat after the facilitator.
Check their pronunciation, then let the participants practice these expressions a couple of times.

72

Response choice (25 minutes) . Provide the handout of risky invitations/forceful requests
(See appendix 9), on which there are several statements of risky invitations or forceful requests
such as "I will get you a drink. Wait here." The facilitators give the participants 5 minutes to
choose the response to these statements from the useful English expressions and to fill in the
blank. After 5 minutes the facilitator reads out the statements and randomly asks each
participant to respond verbally with their answer.
In the second week the facilitators start to encourage spontaneous participation by using

more open-ended questions and asking the participants for their own ideas and opinions. After
practicing the responses from the handout, the facilitators ask the participants more optional
responses, using questions like "Could you think of any other responses to these statements?" or
"What else can you say to these responses?" If any participants answer these questions, check
their expression to ensure it is grammatically correct and natural; be sure to write them down for
the other participants who may be taking notes.

Role play (20 minutes). Divide the participants into smaller groups, assign one facilitator
for each group and let each participant practice the learned English expressions in a short role
play. In advance the facilitators should prepare note cards with the risky situation written on it,
such as 'a party at your friend ' s house ', 'pub party ', 'first date at a restaurant' and so on. Also,
prepare short conversations with a few interactions at each setting, with the last sentences being
chosen from the handout of risky invitations/forceful requests. This handout will help the
participants practice what they have just learned and this could be a good first step when
practicing how to decline. Let the participants pick up one of the note cards and play out the
setting one by one. For example;

73

At your friend ' s house party
Facilitator: Hi. Are you a new Japanese international student, right? I am Mike.
Participant: Hello. I am Tomomi.
Facilitator: Cool. How do you like Canada so far?
Participant: It' s been good.
Facilitator: That's great. I would love to go to Japan someday. Oh, don't you have any
drinks?? I will get y ou a drink. Wait here.
Pay attention ifeach participant is able to response naturally and give them feedback. In
addition, like this example, some of the new arrival students may not be good at continuing
conversations and may only answer with a few words in English instead of answering with
specific information. The role play could be more useful if the facilitators provide some tips for
regular English conversation.

Examining rules and assumptions (35 minutes). First, conduct a short discussion about
the role play in order to check how the participants felt about declining the invitation or requests.
From the second week, in order to get the participants spontaneously involved in class
discussions, use open-ended questions and allow the participants time to get used to discussing
their opinions and/or ideas, using questions such as "How did you feel about the role play?" "Are
you confident enough to say the same thing in the real situation? Why (not)?" "How do you feel
when you decline someone' s offer or requests?"
After the short discussion the facilitators br1efly review the belief system the participants
learned on Day 4, if possible, taking some participants' opinions as an example. For example, if
the facilitators hear a participant say, "I still feel bad saying no to my date after he bought me an
expensive dinner and presents", search her core beliefs or thoughts for something like " I should

74

always pay back for what I receive" and explain that this core belief may make her feel bad and
potentially say "yes" to an unwanted request from her date . Next, move on to the examination of
the participants ' rules and assumptions in an interpersonal relationship. In this activity the
participants list "shoulds" thoughts in interpersonal relationships and examine if these "shoulds"
are rational (See appendix 10). If not, they work on reframing these thoughts into more adaptive
ones, especially from a North American perspective. Let the participants think and list their
rules and assumptions in relationships with both friends and boyfriends. Provide a couple of
sample rules and assumptions to help the participants think of their own rules and assumptions
such as "When my friends invite me for parties or any gathering, I should go with them anytime",
"If I am against my boyfriend ' s opinions or ideas, he may hate me" and so on. Provide some
time for the participants to think of their rules and assumptions, ask what they are, and write
them down on flipchart paper or on a blackboard. Then the facilitators challenge these rules and
assumptions and allow the participants to think of more adaptive and practical rules and
assumptions such as "I will pay back what makes both my date and me happy when I receive
something from my date/I will not follow my date ' s request which make me feel uncomfortable."
Summarize the influence of people' s thoughts and assumptions on our feelings and behaviors at
the end and tell the participants to read their new rules and assumptions a couple of times to
adopt them.
Week Two: Day Six.
Purpose. To let the participants practice detecting and preventing the risks
Objectives.

• To let the participants practice detecting risks using rape scenarios
• To let the participants set their limitations of their behaviors in risky situations

75
•

To let the participants practice detecting and preventing risks in role plays
Procedure.

Introduction (5 minutes). Check the participants' understanding of the materials and
clear the meaning and definitions of English vocabularies or expressions they do not understand.

Detecting the risks (30 minutes). In this activity, the participants read the scenarios of
acquaintance rape, identify the victims ' risk behaviors in the scenarios, and then discuss what
could be the possible prevention behaviors (See appendix 11 ). The participants are supposed to
read the scenarios in advance as homework and their understanding of these scenarios is checked
in the introduction; the facilitators soon lead the discussion about the victims ' risk and
prevention behaviors. First, ask the participants what are the risk behaviors the females in the
scenarios took. Write the responses out on flipchart paper or on a black board for the
participants to take notes. Second, ask the participants what could be alternative behaviors to the
risky ones and write them out as well. Since these scenarios and the list of prevention behaviors
are narrative, practice a quick role play. The facilitators take the role of the male and ask the
participants to respond to the offers and/or requests based on the list of prevention behaviors.
For example, one of the risk behaviors is a female accepts the offer of a ride home and the
prevention behavior is to refuse the offer of a ride by a new acquaintance. The facilitator says to
one of the participants, "Hey if you are leaving now, I can give you a ride home. I parked my car
right there." And in response the participant says along the lines of"No thank you. My friends
and I are supposed to share a taxi tonight" based on the prevention behavior they previously
discussed. Keep practicing until all the items they listed are complete.

Setting the limitations (15 minutes). Based on the discussion about risk and prevention
behaviors, let the participants think about specific limitations they set for themselves in both

76
party and dating situations such as "Do not drink more than 3 drinks in a party involving some
unfamiliar or new acquainted people" or "Do not take sexual advances within 4 dates" and so on
(See appendix 12). In the last five minutes, let the participants share their limitations.

Role play (30 minutes). First, review the strategies to say "no" assertively that they
learned on Day 4 and summarize the activities they have been practicing, and then, divide the
participants into smaller groups, assign one facilitator for each group and let each participant
practice assertive communication in role plays. Again the participants will draw one of the
specific situations, such as "after second dinner date", "after 2 drinks with a new friend at dorm
party" and so on. This time the facilitators will lead a longer role play that does not require
following a detailed scenario with a sample of English expressions, and they will challenge the
participants' assertiveness using forceful behaviors. Remind the participants to behave based on
the limitations they set in the former activity and to be assertive toward any offers and requests
which are over the limitations. Provide feedback after each participant finishes their role play
and ask for the other observing participants' feedback as well.

Class discussion (1 0 minutes). The facilitators lead a class discussion in the last ten
minutes in order to provide more time for the participants to express their opinions and ideas in
public, identify their questions and concerns, and find the solutions based on what they have
learned from this program (See appendix 13). Let the participants discuss what they are
concerned about or not confident enough to deal with after completing the activities in the
second week and then let them discuss how they could help each other to resolve the concerns.
The facilitators write out the coping methods they discuss on flipchart paper or on a black board
for the participants to take notes and remember the methods.

77
Week Two: Day Seven.
Purpose. Review the knowledge and skills offered in the program and put them into
practice in an actual interaction with North American students.
Objectives.
•

To review the risk prevention techniques and English expressions the participants have
learned in the program

•

To let the participants practice the techniques and English expressions in an actual
situation with North American students

•

To provide the information about resources international students can access when they
are in need

•

To obtain the program evaluation right after the main program
Procedure.

Review and summary (15 minutes). In the first fifteen minutes, provide a brief summary
of what the participants have learned in this program, reviewing primarily the risky situations
and risk prevention attitudes, behaviors, and English expressions before the last role play with
North American students.

End ofprogram party/role play (50 minutes). This party is organized for the last role
play with North American students so that the participants may practice the skills they learned in
a situation closer to what they may actually experience. This role play is organized as an end of
program party and domestic North American students are invited as well. Some of the students
are asked to act as predators trying to drug or isolate the participants. The participants are
required to identify the predators and protect themselves during the party.

78
To conduct this final role play, the facilitators need to recruit mixed-gender domestic
students as volunteers. The number of the volunteers is favorably more than the number of the
participants in order to make the setting closer to a real party setting. The information session
for the volunteer students needs to be set in advance and in the session they are informed about
the purpose of this program, the issue of acquaintance rape, and the purpose and procedure of the
role play. As this is a good opportunity to increase the domestic students ' awareness of
acquaintance rape as well, it is recommended that the facilitators provide a short lecture
regarding the issue for the volunteer students as well. Afterwards, the students are divided into
two groups, predators and non-predators, regardless of their gender. The non-predator group is
required to be social and try to be friends with the participants, whereas the predators group is
required to try and trick the participants to drink a beverage with a candy, which is a
representation of date rape drug, or to take one of the participants out of the room to isolate her.
Some candies and red cards are provided to the predator students in advance and when they
succeed in making the participants take a sip of beverage with a candy or taking her out of
classroom, the predator student gives a red card to the participant.
After the review, the facilitators and the participants will move to a party room in which
beverage and snacks are prepared. Domestic students are supposed to be there before the
participants come. The facilitators give both students 30 minutes to hang out and become
familiar with one another. The participants are required to identify which students are predators
and be assertive to say "no" when they receive unwanted offer during the party. After 30
minutes the facilitators call off the party and then all of the facilitators , the participants, and the
volunteer students sit in circle for a discussion for the rest of 20 minutes. At first, the facilitators
check with the participants if they have received any red cards and if they can identify all the

79
students in the predators group. Ideally there are no participants who receive a red card, but if
any of the participants do, ask both the participant and the volunteer student who gave the card
what was the situation; ask for feedback from the volunteer student what could possibly have
prevented him or her from giving the red card to the participant. Also, ask for more opinions and
ideas from all of the students about the setting and what they could possibly do to protect
themselves or their friends from being sexually victimized in a party setting. This discussion
aims not only at reinforcing the participants ' knowledge on how to prevent victimization but also
at facilitating domestic students' awareness of acquaintance rape and its prevention, and
extending a support network for both Japanese participants and North American students.

Introduction of the resources (5 minutes). After coming back to a regular classroom,
introduce the resources on campus and/or in the community that would be useful and helpful for
international students. The resources should not only be related to support for sexual
victimization but also related to support for any issues international students may have, such as
support for study skills, learning English, and distress (e.g homesickness, anxiety, depression). It
is useful that the information package, including the brochures of each of the resources, are
customized and distributed to the participants. However, what is more important is the
facilitators emphasize that they are the most accessible and helpful resources for the participants
and explain that if the participants feel uncomfortable connecting to these resources by
themselves, the facilitators are always available to help them receive support during their stay in
North America. The facilitators may have to refer them to a more appropriate service depending
on their problems; however, until they are ready to receive the proper service the facilitators
should be available to them when they ask for help.

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Announcement about the follow-up session (5 minutes). At the end of the main program,
it is essential to remind the participants about the follow-up session and ask them to come back.

It is also imperative to send a reminder e-mail one or two weeks prior to the follow-up session.
Program evaluation (15 minutes). The measurement for the evaluation is from the one
used in Gidycz et. al. (200 1) but with added questions to see the individual evaluations for both
the lecture and activities components, with questions such as "How helpful do you think the
activities (the role play, class discussion, etc.) are?" in addition to the original item "How
helpful do you think the information is? ', as this program has the aspect of communication
training as well (See appendix 14). The modified program evaluation is a Likert-type scale with
the responses range from 0 (None) to 5 (Substantial). This measurement does not required
written answers, so, it should be easy for Japanese participants to evaluate the program
regardless of their English level.
Week Ten: Day Eight: Follow-up Session
Purpose. To obtain program feedback from the participants and to collect data to
measure the effectiveness of the program.
Objectives.

• To lead a group discussion in order to obtain feedback from the participants
• To conduct the program evaluation in order to see the actual effectiveness of the program
• To conduct the post-test in order to measure the difference of the participants attitude
toward the risk factors of acquaintance rape
Procedure.

Introduction (5 minutes). Welcome the returning participants for the follow-up session
and then provide a brief explanation about the session.

81

Open discussion (50 minutes). Before the discussion, the facilitators need to provide a
brief summary of the main session to remind the participants about the contents they learned.
Although by this time the participants may have adapted to the North American style class and
be more active in class, it is still necessary for the facilitators to lead an open discussion to obtain
necessary information in a limited time. These are the minimum required topics which need to
be discussed; (1) direct and/or indirect experience in facing and preventing the risks of
acquaintance rape, (2) any other cultural gaps the participants have experienced, (3) suggestions
or implications for future program.
(1) direct or indirect experience in facing the risks of acquaintance rape victimization.

First, the facilitators need to check with the participants if they have had any direct and/or
indirect experience that required them to face or prevent the risks of acquaintance rape. If there
are any participants who have had a direct experience, then the details also need to be asked such
as when/in what occasion it happened, how they handled it, if the knowledge and skills obtained
from the program were helpful in the situation, and so on. It is important for the facilitators to
provide feedback to the direct and/or indirect experiences, as the feedback will help the
participants reinforce or modify their knowledge and skills. However, if there are any
participants who have had an experience of victimization, their experience should not be
discussed in this program because this is an educational group not a treatment group. This
program is not designed to support participants with victimized experience. If the program goal
to connect the participants to supportive resources is accomplished successfully and the
facilitators know in advance that there is a returning participants who was victimized, this
discussion and feedback component needs to be conducted with special cares in order not to

82
offend participants with victimized experience. It is crucial for the facilitators to offer
continuous support or support them to connect to the proper resources besides this program.
(2) any other cultural gaps the participants have experienced. This program focuses on

educating the cultural gaps that exist in interpersonal relationships between Japan and North
America. However, there is no doubt that there will be more opportunities for international
students to face cultural differences and gaps that are not learned about in this program. In this
discussion, focus on the cultural gaps which have made the participants confused, troubled,
and/or uncomfortable. As a result of these discussions, the facilitators will have the opportunity
to better understand the occasions in which international students may face difficulties during
their stay in North America.
(3) suggestions and/or implications for future program. Based on the discussions with the

topics above, it is important to ask for the participants' opinions on what they feel they should
have known or learned before starting their life in North America. These opinions would be
useful in order to improve the program and may suggest other orientating programs that would
be essential for new international students to partake in.
Program evaluation (10 minutes). The measurement is again from the one used in

Gidycz et. al. (2001) but with added modification to measure the effectiveness and usefulness of
the program for the participants, specifically during their first semester in North America (See
appendix 15). For this purpose, a few of the questions that would be more suitable right after the
main session (i.g. How much did you learn about sexual assault?) are eliminated and modified
questions focus on asking how they felt the program was effective and useful for their actual life
in North America.

83
Post-test (remainder). Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, Dating Behavior
Survey, Date and Acquaintance rape scale, and Sexual Experiences Survey, are used again in
order to measure the differences of the participants ' attitudes and behaviors toward the risk
factors of acquaintance rape from the ones right after their arrival in North America (See
appendix 2, 3, 4, and 6). Some modification is added in order to measure their attitude and
behavior specifically during their stay in North America.
Conclusion

This program is organized specifically for Japanese students with consideration for the
Japanese educational style, communication style, and language barrier. Through the seven days
of the main prevention program Japanese female students are guided (1) to shift their
communication style from an indirect and ambiguous one to a direct and clear style, (2) to
enhance their self-esteem to assist in being assertive in interpersonal relationships in North
American society, and (3) to achieve general knowledge regarding the problems of sexual assault.
Throughout the program, the program facilitators are expected to establish close rapport with the
students to help introduce the students to the personalized resources for support when they are in
need of help. In addition, the follow-up program will be helpful to reinforce the knowledge and
communication skills and will also be a good opportunity for them to share any experiences they
may have had by this time. This reinforcement will be helpful for the participants to maintain
'proper' attitudes and behaviors in interpersonal relationship in North America and to build a
more secure social life. Culturally sensitive rape prevention programs would be great material
for inclusion in the international students' orientation because this program is designed not only
for reduction of victimization but also for promotion of acculturation.

84
Chapter Four: Discussion
Summary of the Project

It is sad but true that virtue in one country would turn inappropriate in another, but that is
why studying about or in different countries is important in order to expand our views. In fact,
66,833 Japanese people went to another country to study in 2008 and 31 ,433 of them came to
North America (Tomorrow Co. Ltd., 201 0). In Japan, concessional behaviors (Makino &
Takemura, 1994) and indirect communication are a few of the major ways to show Japanese
virtue by avoiding making people feel uncomfortable and keeping harmony; however, they are
not always appropriate in North America, especially when attempting to avoid risky situations.
Acquaintance rape is one of the major problems among the student population and is
closely connected to students' social life, such as party and/or date situations. Alcohol
consumption and males' intentionally or unintentionally misinterpretation about females'
revealing dress and/or friendly behavior are a few of the significant risk factors of acquaintance
rape but they are also generally seen in students' social life. Although rape is certainly a crime
for which males are responsible and should be accountable for, it is helpful for females to
understand the risk factors and learn to be assertive enough to reject unwanted alcohol/drug
consumption and sexual advances to lessen the risk of being sexually victimized. However,
Japanese style communication, which prefers to avoid confrontation and would rather follow
others' commands and/or needs, has the potential to become an increased risk factor for
acquaintance rape when they face these risky invitations.
This program is aiming not only at providing information regarding acquaintance rape
and altering the participants' beliefs and attitudes around the issue, but also at shifting Japanese
participants' communication style from an indirect one to a direct one. To achieve this cultural

85
shift, this program supplements 3 components in addition to the mainstream rape prevention
programs for females ; (1) language support, (2) shift of class dynamic from Japanese style to
North American style, and (3) self-esteem support.

(1) Language support. Language is one of the biggest barriers for students who recently
arrived from non-English speaking countries. Since this program contains important information
to help keep them safe in North America, the contents need to be understood by the participants.
First, this program recommends using visual effects for Japanese participants to grasp the
contents easily. Second, on each day of the program key vocabularies, phrases, expressions, and
all the handouts used in the next session are provided as homework to the participants to ensure
enough time to look them up. Third, at the beginning of each day the homework is reviewed as a
warm-up introduction every time to check their understanding. Ideally it is recommended that
the program organizers would collaborate with ESL teachers at their institutions to customize the
language homework and materials. ESL teachers are assumed to understand the average
language level of Japanese students they enroll every year and to possess a solid experience and
knowledge to teach English. Their insights would be helpful for customizing the materials for
the program.

(2) Shift of class dynamic. There is a difference in class dynamics between Japan and
North America. In Japan, teachers dominate students and initiate communication in class;
therefore, students are passive listeners and never speak unless directly spoken to by teachers.
On the other hand, in North America, students have more freedom in class and actively
participate in class activities and communication with teachers. This program is conducted in a
classroom setting and is design to alter the class dynamic by shifting delivering methods from
Japanese styles to North American ones, which requires Japanese participants to shift their

86
communication style in class from passive to active. The class dynamic shift itself is assumed to
be very useful and effective, as well as the program contents and materials, for facilitating the
participants' awareness of cultural differences, such as social norms and communication styles,
between Japan and North America, and for training active and assertive communication. In
addition, Kawamoto (2007) mentioned in her report that the western style teaching approach
with assertive skills may even be effective for the students to learn the English language since
language represents not only linguistic figures but also the culture in which the language is
spoken; both of them interact with each other.
(3) Self-esteem support. Fukuyama and Greenfield (1983) mentioned from their
research regarding Asian-American's assertiveness that creating a dual awareness around Asian
and North American cultural values would be an ideal situation for Asian-Americans. The
reason for this is it would allow individuals to evaluate situations and determine outcomes in
either cultural environment, creating an increase in self-awareness and self-esteem as they would
be confident choosing how to behave. The skills would help people with an Asian cultural
background enhance their confidence and self-esteem, and as a result, they would feel more
comfortable with assertive communications which is favorable in North American society. In
this program the first week is designed for providing information to facilitate the participants'
awareness regarding acquaintance rape and cultural differences in interpersonal relationships
between Japanese and North Americans. The information about the way to assess risky
situations and the appropriate behaviors to avoid the risks are also provided. The second week is
designed to focus on training the participants to acquire the bicultural skills. Cognitive exercises,
role plays, and class discussions are adopted to assist the participants ' practice of assertive
communications to allow them to feel more comfortable using them.

87
This program not only educates about acquaintance rape but also spotlights the cultural
differences in interpersonal relationships and includes assertiveness training components to
enhance their assertive communication skills in English. This program expects the participants
to experience a behavioral change in interpersonal relationships and in prevention from risky
situations. Most of the past prevention programs reported on the effectiveness to alter the
participants' attitude toward acquaintance rape but seldom reported their behavioral changes.
This program attempts to alter the participants' behavior in interpersonal relationships, which is
assumed to be effective for avoiding the risk of being sexual victimized. As a result, this
program has the potential to show the effectiveness of behavioral change from rape prevention
program as well as the necessity of this type of program to assist for international students in
obtaining bi-cultural standards.
Limitations
One of the major limitations in this project is its limited prospective participant. By
limiting gender and nationality, this project expects to provide a safe environment for the
participants to work on sensitive matters, both accepting new knowledge about their new society,
as well as challenging their cultural perspectives, values, and beliefs. However, the contents of
the program contain useful information for males as well, moreover, it may be more crucial for
Asian males to learn it than for Asian females. Mori et al. (1995) found in their cross cultural
research that Asian college students were more likely to possess negative attitudes toward rape
victims and substantial belief in rape myths, but on the other hand, only Asian males, not Asian
females, support negative attitudes toward women. Lonsway (1996) suggested that rape
prevention programs for females seems more like efforts toward deterrence and said "Rape
deterrence strategies can therefore only protect individual women, but can never reduce the

88
vulnerability of women as a group" (p. 232). Therefore, she strongly suggested males '
motivation to rape is the primary cause of rape and true rape prevention must target males, who
could be the real and potential perpetrators.
This project also targets specifically Japanese participants in order to organize the
contents and materials in a culturally suitable way for the target population. As Yamawaki
(20 10) indicates, even among Asian countries cultural values vary, therefore, by targeting one
nationality it is possible to make the program a more culturally sensitive one. Even though
according to McMullen and Elias (20 11 ), for example, 52.7% of international students are Asian,
the majority is Chinese students with Eastern Indian and Korean students being the second and
third largest population among Asian international students in both Canada and the United States
(Australian Education International, 2007). Therefore, it is very important to investigate their
risk of sexual assault victimization and organize support system suitable for them. But at the
same time, some common cultural values, such as Confucianism and collectivism, are seen
among Eastern Asian countries and these values seem to have a strong connection to their view
of gender roles and even to rape myths acceptance (Yamawaki, 2002). Because of these
commonalities, a mixed-nationality program may still work among Asian international students,
but further research is absolutely necessary regarding the similarity and differences among Asian
countries in order to organize culturally sensitive program.

Implication for Future Research
Although the efficacy among different target gender groups was observed in the past rape
prevention program studies, cross-cultural perspectives are seldom mentioned there. The
majority of participants are Caucasian (Gidycz et. al. , 2001 ; Klaw et. al., 2005; Londsway et. al,
1998) and the sample size of non-Caucasians is too small to observe cultural differences.

89
However, the researchers admitted the importance of studying ethnic/cultural diversity in
prevention programs. In Canada, for example, the number of international students has been
steadily growing from late 90 ' s through mid-2000 ' s and by 2008 the number of international
students at Canadian universities doubled, compared with 1992 (McMullen & Elias, 2011 ). As a
result, it is necessary for the educational institutions to provide appropriate programs to keep
their international students safe in North American society. Future research should explore ways
to define effective programs based not only gender groups but also on ethnic/cultural groups as
acquaintance rape is an issue also faced by international students.
This program is organized based on the assumption that the combination of knowledge
regarding acquaintance rape and assertive communication skills are effective for Japanese
students in North America to prevent sexual victimization. It aims at facilitating the participants'
behavioral change and cultural flexibility in interpersonal relationships; however, its actual
effectiveness needs to be examined in the future research.

90

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Appendix 1
Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test: Pre-test
Instructions
Japan.

Read the questions and choose the most suitable answer for your clinking behavior in

I. How often do you have a drink containing alcohol?
(a) Never (Skip to Question 4)
(b) Monthly or less
(c) 2 to 4 times a month
(d) 2 to 3 times a week
(e) 4 or more times a week

2. How many drinks containing alcohol do you have on a typical day when you are drinking?
(a) 1 or 2
(b) 3 or 4
(c) 5 or 6
(d) 7, 8, or 9
(e) 10 or more

3. How often do you have six or more drinks on one occasion?
(a) Never
(b) Less than monthly
(c) Monthly
(d) Weekly
(e) Daily or almost daily

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4. How often during the last year have you been unable to remember what happened the night
before because you had been drinking?
(a) Never
(b) Less than monthly
(c) Monthly
(d) Weekly
(e) Daily or almost daily

5. Have you or someone else been injured as a result of your drinking?
(a) No
(b) Yes, but not in the last year
(c) Yes, during the last year

6. Has a relative, or friend or a doctor or another health worker been concerned about your
drinking or suggested you cut down?
(a) No
(b) Yes, but not in the last year
(c) Yes, during the last year

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Appendix 2
Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test: Post-test
Instructions
Read the questions and choose the most suitable answer for your dinking behavior during
your stay in North America.

1. How often do you have a drink containing alcohol?
(a) Never (Skip to Question 4)
(b) Monthly or less
(c) 2 to 4 times a month
(d) 2 to 3 times a week
(e) 4 or more times a week

2. How many drinks containing alcohol do you have on a typical day when you are drinking?
(a) 1 or 2
(b) 3 or 4
(c) 5 or 6
(d) 7, 8, or 9
(e) 10 or more

3. How often do you have six or more drinks on one occasion?
(a) Never
(b) Less than monthly
(c) Monthly
(d) Weekly
(e) Daily or almost daily

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4. How often during your stay in North America have you been unable to remember. what
happened the night before because you had been drinking?
(a) Never
(b) Less than monthly
(c) Monthly
(d) Weekly
(e) Daily or almost daily

5. Have you or someone else been injured as a result of your drinking?
(a) No
(b) Yes, but not in North America
(c) Yes, during my stay in North America

6. Has a relative, or friend or a doctor or another health worker been concerned about your
drinking or suggested you cut down?
(a) No
(b) Yes, but not in North America
(c) Yes, during my stay in North America

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Appendix 3
Dating Behavior Survey
Instructions

Please read each of the following statements and think about your typical behavior on the
first few dates that you have had or would have with a new partner. Indicate your level of
frequency for each statement from 1 (Never) to 6 (Always).

1. Partners that I (would) go out with initiate the first few dates (ask me out).
2. On the first few dates, I (would) consume alcohol or drugs.
3. On the first few dates that we (would) have, my partner and I do things that allow us to spend
time alone together (such as spending time alone together in my room or my partner' s room).
4. On the first few dates that we (would) have, my partner consumes alcohol or drugs.
5. On the first few dates, I (would) consume enough alcohol or drugs to become drunk or high.
6. On the first few dates that we (would) have, I allow my partner to plan what we do.
7. On the first few dates that we (would) have, my date and I spend part of the time "parking"
(kissing or other sexual activity in a car).
8. I pay for my own expenses on the first few dates that I (would) have with a new partner.
9. On the first few dates, my partner consumes enough alcohol or drugs to become drunk or high.
10. On the first few dates, I (would) provide my own transportation.
11 . On the first few dates, my partner and I (would) choose group activities (i.e. , double date).

104
12. On the first few dates, I (would) have at times "blacked out" (lost consciousness, can't
remember what happened) from drugs or alcohol.
13. On the first few dates, my partner and I (would) choose activities that I suggest.
14. Before I go out with a new partner for the first time, I (would) try to find out about him.
15. If a new partner makes sexist remarks on the first few dates that we (would) have, I stop
dating him.

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Appendix 4
Date and Acquaintance Rape Scale: Pre-/Post-test
Instructions
Please read each of the following statements and assume that the situation m the
statements happen in North America. "A date", "a man", or "men" in each statement indicates
the man in North America. Indicate your level of agreement for each statement by choosing one
number from 1 (strongly disagree), 2 (moderately disagree), 3 (mildly disagree), 4 (mildly agree),
5 (moderately agree), and 6 (strongly agree).
1. Rape among dates and acquaintances is a significant problem in North America.
2. Only a few women will have to deal with

arape attempt by a date or acquaintance during the

years at their educational institution.
3. I personally would stand a good chance of having to deal with a rape attempt by a date or an
acquaintance sometime during my stay in North America.
4. The possibility of being raped by my date or male friend would be the last thing on my mind
when I am out having a good time.
5. I would never worry about going home alone with a date or a male friend.
6. If I sense anything about a man that makes me uncomfortable, I would be able to avoid being
alone with him.
7. I am unable to make it clear to men that they need to respect my personal space.
8. It would be very hard for me to tell a date what I do or do not want to do sexually.

106
9. If a date refused to stop after I told him to, I wouldn ' t know what I could do to make him stop.
10. I know a number of basic self-defense techniques that I would be able to use if anyone tried
to rape me.
11. When I am alone with a man I don ' t know well, I may feel afraid of him, but I can't do

anything about it.
12. Ifl heard a woman yelling or screaming in another dorm room, I wouldn' t know what I could
do.
13. If men I know make me feel uneasy, I think I would ignore my fears so I can stay on good
terms with them.
14. I will take care of myself first and others second, including men.
15. If a man doesn't treat me well, I can do very nicely without him in my life.
16. I would rather have very few relationships in my life than a lot if having a lot means that
some of them are abusive.
17. If any man thinks he can make me have sex with him, he' s going to learn a painful lesson.
18. I get furious when a man acts as if he has the right to expect sex from me.
19. Women who dress to look their best for a date are not necessarily indicating that they want
sex.
20. If a man doesn't stop when a woman says no, it's rape.
21. Women who get drunk at a party or on a date deserve what happens to them.

107
22. It is never a woman ' s fault if she is raped.
23. It is up to a woman to make sure she doesn ' t get a man aroused if she doesn't want him to
force her to have intercourse.
24. Women often accuse men of rape because they are angry with the men for some other reason.
25. Most of what is labeled rape is just the woman changing her mind later.

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Appendix 5
Sexual Experiences Survey: Pre-test
Instructions
Please read the following questions about sexual experience and answer either yes or no
depending on your personal experience in Japan.
Have you ever:
1. Had sexual intercourse with a man when you both wanted to?
2. Had a man misinterpret the level of sexual intimacy you desired?
3. Been in a situation where a man became so sexually aroused that you felt it was useless to stop
him even though you did not want to have sexual intercourse?
4. Had sexual intercourse with a man even though you didn't really want to because he
threatened to end your relationship otherwise?
5. Had sexual intercourse with a man when you didn't really want to because you felt pressured
by his continual arguments?
6. Found out that a man had obtained sexual intercourse with you by saying things he didn't
really mean?
7. Been in a situation where a man used some degree of physical force (twisting your arm,
holding you down, etc.) to try to make you engage in kissing or petting when you didn't want to?

109
8. Been in a situation where a man tried to have sexual intercourse with you when you didn't
want to by threatening to use physical force (twisting your arm, holding you down, etc.) if you
didn't cooperate, but for various reasons sexual intercourse did not occur?
9. Been in a situation where a man used some degree of physical force (twisting your arm,
holding you down, etc.) to try to get you to have sexual intercourse with him when you didn't
want to, but for various reasons sexual intercourse did not occur?
10. Had sexual intercourse with a man when you didn't want to because he threatened to use
physical force (twisting your arm, holding you down, etc.) if you didn't cooperate?
11. Had sexual intercourse with a man when you didn 't want to because he used some degree of
physical force (twisting your arm, holding you down, etc.)?
12. Been in a situation where a man obtained sexual acts with you such as anal or oral
intercourse when you didn't want to by using threats or physical force (twisting your arm,
holding you down, etc.)?
13. Have you ever been raped?

110

Appendix 6
Sexual Experiences Survey: Post-test
Instructions
Please read the following questions about sexual experience and answer either yes or no
depending on your personal experience during your stay in North America.
Have you ever:
1. Had sexual intercourse with a man when you both wanted to?
2. Had a man misinterpret the level of sexual intimacy you desired?
3. Been in a situation where a man became so sexually aroused that you felt it was useless to stop
him even though you did not want to have sexual intercourse?
4. Had sexual intercourse with a man even though you didn' t really want to because he
threatened to end your relationship otherwise?
5. Had sexual intercourse with a man when you didn't really want to because you felt pressured
by his continual arguments?
6. Found out that a man had obtained sexual intercourse with you by saying things he didn't
really mean?
7. Been in a situation where a man used some degree of physical force (twisting your arm,
holding you down, etc.) to try to make you engage in kissing or petting when you didn't want to?

111
8. Been in a situation where a man tried to have sexual intercourse with you when you didn't
want to by threatening to use physical force (twisting your arm, holding you down, etc.) if you
didn't cooperate, but for various reasons sexual intercourse did not occur?
9. Been in a situation where a man used some degree of physical force (twisting your arm,
holding you down, etc.) to try to get you to have sexual intercourse with him when you didn't
want to, but for various reasons sexual intercourse did not occur?
10. Had sexual intercourse with a man when you didn't want to because he threatened to use
physical force (twisting your arm, holding you down, etc.) if you didn't cooperate?
11. Had sexual intercourse with a man when you didn't want to because he used some degree of
physical force (twisting your arm, holding you down, etc.)?
12. Been in a situation where a man obtained sexual acts with you such as anal or oral
intercourse when you didn't want to by using threats or physical force (twisting your arm,
holding you down, etc.)?
13. Have you ever been raped?

112
Appendix 7
Acquaintance Rape Scenario for Checking the Level of Victim Blame (Day 3)
Read the following story. Please read the following questions regarding the story and
provide your opinion by rating them from 1 (Not at all) to 6 (To a great extent).
Amanda was a first year student at a university. She dated with Joe, whom she had met
through one of her classes, for almost one month. They didn ' t have intercourse yet as Amanda
felt it was still too soon to have sexual advances and wanted to take time to develop their
relationship. One day, Joe invited Amanda to a party at his house. He shared a house with two
other students.
On the day of the party, Kathy chose to wear her favorite dress. The length was pretty
short but her legs looked great and Joe complimented her and her dress when he welcomed her
into his house. At the party, Amanda had a lot fun with Joe and his friends , laughing, dancing,
drinking, and talking. Later, Joe said he wanted to take a break in a quiet place and invited her to
his bedroom in the basement. Amanda knew she had drunk too much and also wanted to take a
break, so she accepted the invitation and they went down to his room.
In his room, they lied down on his bed together and chatted about the parties and his
friends. Shortly after, Joe began kissing Amanda and touching her. She enjoyed cuddling with
him at first, but when he started undressing her, she gently asked him to stop. He showered her
with compliments and said he had been waiting for the moment. Kathy tried to push him away
and said no again, which made Joe very upset. He blamed her that she was the one to seduce him
with the dress and the acceptance to come down with him and that she was fooling him. He also
insisted that they should have intercourse as they already dated for one month and no other man
would ever wait that long. Amanda tried to calm him down and explain she was not ready for
further sexual advance, however, he did not listen to her and forcefully put her down on the bed.
Amanda was too drunk to resist and eventually had sex with him.

1. How much control does Amanda have in this situation?
2. How much is Amanda responsible in this situation?
3. How much does Amanda desire for intercourse in this situation?
4. How much does Amanda enjoy this incident?
5. How much does Amanda provoke this situation?

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Appendix 8
Useful English Expressions (Day 5)
Fending off requests and invitations
~

No, thank you.

~

No, I don't think so.

~

I am afraid I can't. I have to study tonight. I still have not finished the assignment yet. (be
home earlier tonight)

~

I don't feel like drinking tonight. (going out tonight/ partying/ hanging out with people)

~

I don't want to have sex until we get to know each other better. (get too drunk)

~

I would rather stay home tonight than go out.

~

I can't drink more than 2 drinks, otherwise I would feel really sick later. Thanks anyways,
though.

~

I will go with you and then I can learn how to order drinks at bar in English.

~

If this is what you want in our relationship, I am afraid I am not the right person for you.

~

I am supposed to share a taxi with my friends. (be home by ten tonight)

Delaying agreement
~

Let me think about it. (watch you play a few rounds first/ ask my host family first)

~

I will let you know later if I can.

~

I am not ready for this.

~

Let's talk about this later. It doesn't seem to be the right time.

);>

What are you planning to do when we get back to your place?

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Appendix 9
Risky Invitations/Forceful Requests (Day 5)
How would you respond if you hear. ..
(1) I will get you a drink. Wait here.

(2) I got a special drink for you. It's a shot. Just drink it up!!

(3) Your glass is empty. I will get another one for you.

(4) We are playing some games. It's just a simple drinking game. You shouldjoin us. It's so
much fun!!

(5) You can do more than that! Here is another one. Drink up, baby!

(6) Kinda loud in here .. .. Wanna go someplace quiet with me?

(7) It's still too early. Do you want to come to my apartment? It's right there!

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(8) Come on, I thought this is what you wanted! You are the one to lead me on!

(9) I want more than that. I think I deserve something in return for everything I gave you!

(1 0) We are finally alone. You know we both want this. Just relax!

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Appendix 10
My "Shoulds" in Relationships (Day 5)
My "shoulds" in the relationship with
my friends

My new adaptive rules in the relationship with
my friends

My "shoulds" in the relationship with
my date

My new adaptive rules in the relationship with
my date

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Appendix 11
Sample of Acquaintance Rape Scenarios for Detecting Risk Behaviors (Day 6)
Instructions
Read the following stories and identify the risk behaviors of what happened to the
females in the story and think of the alternative behaviors to prevent what happened in the story.

Story 1
Kathy was a first year student at a university and living in a dorm. At a friend's party, Kathy met
and became acquainted with Mike. Kathy and Mike dated for about two weeks, but had no
intercourse during that time. One Friday night Kathy and Mike went out on a date. Mike booked
a fancy restaurant for dinner, so Kathy decided to dress nicely. They had a great time at the
restaurant talking, having dinner and sharing a whole bottle ofwine. Later, they decided to rent a
movie and watch it at Mike's apartment. While watching the movie, they began kissing and
Mike began to caress Kathy heavily. Mike then tried to take her clothes off and at this point
Kathy asked Mike to stop, saying it was still too soon for her. However, Mike just stated it would
be okay and continued. Kathy once again asked him to stop and then Mike started blaming her
that she let him spend a lot of money for nothing and that she were teasing him. Then, he
forcefully put her down on his bed and raped her.

RISKY BEHAVIORS

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ALTERNATIVE BEHAVIORS

Story 2

My name is Sophie, and during my first week of college, I attended a party with my roommate so
we could meet new people. My roommate knew more people than I did, and before I knew it, she
had left me to spend time with them. I was feeling nervous about all the people who were there
drinking and doing drugs so I thought that if I had a drink that I would start to feel more
comfortable. It wasn't long before I started talking to this attractive guy that I recognized from
one of my classes. We were getting along great, so when he offered to get me another drink, I let
him. The next thing I remembered was being alone on a bed, but feeling so dizzy that I couldn't
get up. I could feel a guy on top of me pulling off my underwear, and any attempt I made to
scream came out as a quiet mumble. I felt a slight pain below my waist and that was the last
thing I remembered before passing out. I woke up the next day alone, scared and confused. I
didn't know what had happened to me, so I called my roommate in a panic to come get me.
When she arrived, I asked her if she knew what happened last night. She told me that I got very
drunk, and that the guy I was talking to took me upstairs because I was feeling sick. I got so
upset, and told her everything I remembered about the night before. My roommate took me
straight to the hospital to get a rape kit done, which turned out positive. I felt so disgusted with

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myself, and I didn' t want to be around anybody. I wish I had reported the incident to the police,
but I didn ' t want people to know what had happened to me. It was so hard seeing him every
week in my classes, especially since he acted as if nothing had happened. I ended up transferring
schools.
RISKY BEHAVIORS

ALTERNATIVE BEHAVIORS

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Appendix 12
Setting Your Limitations (Day 6)
My limitations at social events

My limitations at date

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Appendix 13
Class Discussion: More Concerning Situations (Day 6)
Concerning situations that I currently
worry about

How I could cope effectively

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Appendix 14
Program Evaluation: Post-Main Program
Instructions

We would like to know if this program is useful for you to stay safe in North America.
Please read the following statements and provide your honest opinion about the program by
rating them from 0 (None) to 5 (Substantial).
1. How much did you learn about sexual assault?
2. How much information was new to you?
3. How much attention did you give to the program?
4. How helpful do you think the information is?
5. How likely are you to use the information?
6. How helpful do you think the activities (the role play, class discussion, etc.) are?
7. How likely are you to use the skills you have practiced in the activities?
8. What do you think your personal chances are of being involved in a sexual assault during your
stay in North America?

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Appendix 15
Program Evaluation: Post-Follow-up Program
Instructions
We would like to know if this program has been useful for you to stay safe in North
America. Please read the following statements and provide your honest opinion about the
program by rating them from 0 (None) to 5 (Substantial).
1. How much information applied specifically to you during your stay in North America?
2. How helpful has the information you learned from the main program been to you?
3. How much have you actually applied the information to your life in North America?
4. How helpful have the activities you practiced in the main program been during your stay in
North America?
5. How much have you actually used the techniques or skills you practiced in the main program?
6. How much would you recommend this program to new Japanese students coming to North
America?