2020 Lindsey M. Bonistall Research Fellow
Learn about our Fellow:
RaeAnn E. Anderson was raised in rural Kansas and now resides in Grand Forks, ND. In Grand Forks she leads the University of North Dakota Sexual Violence Prevention Laboratory – where she trains students, encourages them, and leads an interdisciplinary team focused exclusively on preventing sexual violence. It is the only research lab of its kind in the Great Plains and one of a small number in the entire country. She made it this far via great training and generous mentors at the University of Kansas (Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk, go KU! – Bachelor’s), the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (PhD), the University of Michigan/Ann Arbor VA Healthcare System (internship) and Kent State University (post-doctoral training). RaeAnn is the first woman on her father’s side to graduate high school, much less college, a fact she keeps in mind as she tries to make things easier for the students who follow in her footsteps. During her family time she enjoys hiking with her husband, letting her toddler explore the world, reading books, and crafting (especially feminist cross-stitching).
Empowering indigenous college women to stop rape: A treatment development study
Considering the entire US population of women, approximately 1 in 5 women will experience rape. This number is much higher for some, such as Indigenous women. Because of the large number of women who experience rape in the US; there are more women with rape-related posttraumatic stress disorder in the United States than there are veterans with war-related posttraumatic stress disorder. That’s the bad news. The good news is that with hard work and good science, we can prevent many of these cases of PTSD, and other rape-related problems. Good, comprehensive self-defense can reduce the risk of rape; yet Indigenous women have rarely been included in studies of self-defense. We also know that culture and tradition promote health for Indigenous people – connecting to the traditions and ancestors of the past is important when your traditional lands have been forcibly taken. Thus, this project seeks to explore how to incorporate Indigenous culture and traditions into self-defense programs to reduce the risk of rape for Indigenous women. Our team includes multiple Indigenous people and our first step will be meeting with Indigenous students on campus to hear how they think we can help prevent rape.
RaeAnn E. Anderson was raised in rural Kansas and now resides in Grand Forks, ND. In Grand Forks she leads the University of North Dakota Sexual Violence Prevention Laboratory – where she trains students, encourages them, and leads an interdisciplinary team focused exclusively on preventing sexual violence. It is the only research lab of its kind in the Great Plains and one of a small number in the entire country. She made it this far via great training and generous mentors at the University of Kansas (Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk, go KU! – Bachelor’s), the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (PhD), the University of Michigan/Ann Arbor VA Healthcare System (internship) and Kent State University (post-doctoral training). RaeAnn is the first woman on her father’s side to graduate high school, much less college, a fact she keeps in mind as she tries to make things easier for the students who follow in her footsteps. During her family time she enjoys hiking with her husband, letting her toddler explore the world, reading books, and crafting (especially feminist cross-stitching).
Empowering indigenous college women to stop rape: A treatment development study
Considering the entire US population of women, approximately 1 in 5 women will experience rape. This number is much higher for some, such as Indigenous women. Because of the large number of women who experience rape in the US; there are more women with rape-related posttraumatic stress disorder in the United States than there are veterans with war-related posttraumatic stress disorder. That’s the bad news. The good news is that with hard work and good science, we can prevent many of these cases of PTSD, and other rape-related problems. Good, comprehensive self-defense can reduce the risk of rape; yet Indigenous women have rarely been included in studies of self-defense. We also know that culture and tradition promote health for Indigenous people – connecting to the traditions and ancestors of the past is important when your traditional lands have been forcibly taken. Thus, this project seeks to explore how to incorporate Indigenous culture and traditions into self-defense programs to reduce the risk of rape for Indigenous women. Our team includes multiple Indigenous people and our first step will be meeting with Indigenous students on campus to hear how they think we can help prevent rape.
Key Findings Update from RaeAnn:
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Many Indigenous families discuss rape in terms of when, not if. It is something that is so widespread and pernicious it is expected. The upside of that is, people know and care and want to change the ride. Indigenous college students we surveyed and interviewed are willing to try many different types of prevention strategies. We also found very few gender differences, Indigenous men see this as just a big a problem as Indigenous women and two-spirit folks.
Providers of prevention programs absolutely must account for historical trauma and how that has influenced the current context. Indigenous people know Pocahontas not by her Disney name and tale, but by her real name of Amonute. They know her as one of the first and not last Indigenous girls to be kidnapped and raped by White outsiders. The scars of this type of ongoing abuse and broader American cultural ignoring of Indigenous people still stings and has many wide-ranging effects from attacks on tribal sovereignty, the Indian Child Welfare Act, and the 60s Steal/boarding school abuses to current human trafficking and poverty on reservations. Conference Presentations (4): Cole, R. E., Armstrong, C., Barker, B., Blair, A., Cole, A. B. (2022, April). Empowering Indigenous College Students to Stop Rape: A Formative Study. Poster presentation submitted to the inaugural Oklahoma State University Undergraduate Research Symposium, Stillwater, OK. Armstrong, C.M., Unger, L., Cole, A.B., & Anderson, R. (2022). Empowering Indigenous College Students to Stop Rape: A Treatment Development Study. Poster presentation accepted to the 2022 APA Convention, Minneapolis, MN. Cole, A. B., Anderson, R., Unger, L., & Armstrong, C. M. (2022, January). Empowering Indigenous college students to stop rape: A treatment development study. Roundtable discussion presented at the 2022 biennial National Multicultural Conference and Summit, Santa Fe, NM (virtual). Anderson, R. E., & Hanna, A., (2021, November) Self Defense for Indigenous Peoples Study: Sovereignty for your Body - Psychology colloquium on Diversity Research at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Community Talk: Anderson, R. E., (2021, October) Self Defense for Indigenous Peoples Study: Sovereignty for your Body – introductory presentation to UND AISES club (American Indian Science and Engineering Society) Public Lecture: Anderson, R. E., (2022, April). Alcohol-Facilitated Sexual Victimization Among Indigenous College Students. University of Nebraska-Lincoln Rural Drug Addiction Research CenterSeminar Series. Lincoln, NE, USA. (virtual), www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL3x367aggk If you would like to read more, please click the links below, which include her findings on: |
February 2021 Update from RaeAnn
Covid hasn't slowed down our 2020 Lindsey M. Bonistall Research Fellow down at all. Read this update from her and her team!
"Since we selected this project in September 2020, the project team has expanded to include graduate and undergraduate students mentored by Dr. Anderson and her research partner, Dr. Cole. These students include members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate and Dakota, the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, and the Mvskoke Nation. In October 2020, the team received a grant from the state of North Dakota to expand the study to include a survey of Indigenous college students across the states of North Dakota and Oklahoma on what they think is needed in rape reduction programs. An Indigenous artist has been engaged to produce the study flyer. A key hurdle was recently cleared when IRB approval to collect the survey data was granted. The research team is well on their way to gathering data, in spite of the the COVID-19 pandemic! Thank you for all the support."
"Since we selected this project in September 2020, the project team has expanded to include graduate and undergraduate students mentored by Dr. Anderson and her research partner, Dr. Cole. These students include members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate and Dakota, the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, and the Mvskoke Nation. In October 2020, the team received a grant from the state of North Dakota to expand the study to include a survey of Indigenous college students across the states of North Dakota and Oklahoma on what they think is needed in rape reduction programs. An Indigenous artist has been engaged to produce the study flyer. A key hurdle was recently cleared when IRB approval to collect the survey data was granted. The research team is well on their way to gathering data, in spite of the the COVID-19 pandemic! Thank you for all the support."
November 2021 Update from RaeAnn
After COVID related delays, our Lindsey M. Bonistall Fellow, RaeAnn Anderson will be in Windsor, Ontario in the first week of December to participate in the train the trainer workshop for the self-defense program, “Flip the Script”. Dr. Charlene Senn, the leading Canadian expert in the area of self-defense in the face of sexual assault will facilitate the training. Recommendations specific to RaeAnn’s work with indigenous women will be provided by Dr. Senn, who will meet with RaeAnn in one-on-one session focusing on a detailed discussion of RaeAnn’s fellowship project. This training coupled with RaeAnn’s research and experience will position her to prepare local trainers to use this modality in their work with indigenous people in North Dakota and throughout the Great Plains and it is expected that workshops will be provided in April in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
Significant progress has been made in the research, which continues to document the need for such a program and in determining the type of intervention most beneficial to indigenous women. 358 anonymous surveys have been completed to date. Participants were identified as indigenous college students across North America. Of this sample, only 17.88% did not report a history of sexual victimization. Follow up personal interviews are currently in progress although engaging participants has been challenging. Efforts continue in this regard and analysis of the data continues. The research has found that indigenous people are in fact open to a wide range of interventions to help them through the trauma of sexual assault.
Although COVID has impacted the goals of the project in terms of travel, initial presentations of the data are planned. Findings will be presented in December, 2021 at the University of North Dakota Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Research Showcase and other presentations are anticipated in 2022. Of note, congratulations are in order as RaeAnn was recently nominated for the National Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program in recognition of her important contribution to better serving the indigenous population of this country.
Significant progress has been made in the research, which continues to document the need for such a program and in determining the type of intervention most beneficial to indigenous women. 358 anonymous surveys have been completed to date. Participants were identified as indigenous college students across North America. Of this sample, only 17.88% did not report a history of sexual victimization. Follow up personal interviews are currently in progress although engaging participants has been challenging. Efforts continue in this regard and analysis of the data continues. The research has found that indigenous people are in fact open to a wide range of interventions to help them through the trauma of sexual assault.
Although COVID has impacted the goals of the project in terms of travel, initial presentations of the data are planned. Findings will be presented in December, 2021 at the University of North Dakota Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Research Showcase and other presentations are anticipated in 2022. Of note, congratulations are in order as RaeAnn was recently nominated for the National Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program in recognition of her important contribution to better serving the indigenous population of this country.
March 2022 Update from RaeAnn
We're excited to share new research from RaeAnn Anderson!
Her research has found startling statistics related to substance abuse and sexual assault:
Review more of her research below.
Her research has found startling statistics related to substance abuse and sexual assault:
- Indigenous college students were 4x less likely to report risky alcohol use.
- Of those who reported experiencing rape, 90% of the time it was alcohol-facilitated rape.
- Indigenous college students felt positively about peer-led substance use interventions like motivational interviewing and 12-step (AA) programs and also strongly preferred that these be offered in their communities, on indigenous lands
Review more of her research below.
Update from our 2019 Research Fellow
Our 2019 Lindsey M. Bonistall Research Fellow, Margaret Campe, has been busy researching risk and protective factors linked to college campus sexual assault. Through her research, she hopes to provide tangible policy recommendations for prevention and intervention. Margaret finished her dissertation in the Spring of 2019. She went on to publish her research in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence and presented her research at the Disability Division of the Society for the Study of Social Problems in New York. Read a summary of her research on our blog and find out what she discovered regarding the link between sexual assault and disabilities.
