Evaluation of a workshop method for increasing awareness of sexual harassment on Rhodes University Campus

The aim of this study was twofold: 1) to educate and inform the student population about sexual harassment, and 2) to evaluate which one of two different training programs would be more effective in increasing awareness of sexual harassment on campus. A pre-test post-test group design was implemented. A sample of students (N=132) living in 14 different Rhodes university residences participated in the study on a voluntary basis. Subjects were divided into two groups. Group 1, participated in a workshop based upon a video entitled One man's meat is another man's poison, produced by the University of Cape Town. Group 2, was subjected to a more passive educational method where the video was played from beginning to end without any interruption. Awareness of sexual harassment was operationalised in terms of the subjects' attitudes towards sexual harassment, their perceptions of sexual harassment, and their sexual harassment myths. Results suggested a significant relationship between participation in the training programs and a change in awareness of sexual harassment, as measured by the changes in the pre-test and post-test scores. Results also suggested that males benefit most by simply viewing the video, while females benefit most by workshopping the same video.KMBT_363Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-i