Charlene Y. Senn
Dr. Charlene Senn is an applied social psychologist and Professor of Psychology and Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada. She has previously held a Faculty of Arts and Social Science Senior Research Leadership Chair (2009-2014) and an Ontario Women’s Health Council Career Award (2005-2008).
Her research centres on male violence against women and girls, with a focus on sexual violence. She is an expert on effective sexual violence interventions, particularly those developing women’s capacity to resist sexual assault. Over the past 10 years, with Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) funding, she developed the Enhanced Assess, Acknowledge, Act (EAAA) sexual assault resistance education program for women in the first year of university. A 3-hour emancipatory sexuality unit is included in the program to ensure that women’s desire is at the centre of the conversation. The findings from the randomized controlled trial evaluation were published recently in the New England Journal of Medicine. This 12-hour program resulted in a 46% reduction in completed rapes and 63% reduction in attempted rape experienced across one year, when compared with the control group. EAAA accomplishes this while reducing woman-blaming and self-blame.
With her colleague, Dr. Anne Forrest, she has also worked since 2010 on another important piece of the campus sexual assault prevention puzzle to institutionalize effective bystander education for men and women on campus and to study its impact in the short and longer term. The institutionalization involves integration of both peer facilitator training and a 3-hour workshop (adaption of the Bringing in the Bystander®) into the academic curriculum so that it is sustainable. Dr. Senn supervises graduate and undergraduate students interested in conducting qualitative or quantitative social psychological research in the area of violence against women and girls, sexual violence, and sexuality.
Primary Interests:
- Applied Social Psychology
- Gender Psychology
- Helping, Prosocial Behavior
- Sexuality, Sexual Orientation
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Image Gallery
Video Gallery
The Feminist EAAA Sexual Assault Resistance Program for Young Women in University
Psychology, Activism, Alternative Methods
Journal Articles:
- Beres, M. A., Senn, C. Y., & McCaw, J. (2014). Navigating ambivalence: How heterosexual young adults make sense of desire differences. Journal of Sex Research, 51(7), 765-776.
- Callander, D., & Senn, C. Y. (2013). Examining the role of relationships, body image, closeness to HIV/AIDS, and HIV optimism in the sexual risks of young men who have sex with men. Journal of HIV/AIDS & Social Services, 12(2), 205-223.
- Girard, A., & Senn, C. Y. (2008). The role of the new "date rape drugs" in attributions about date rape. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 23(1), 3-20.
- Mohipp, C., & Senn, C. Y. (2008). Graduate students' perceptions of contrapower sexual harassment. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 23(9), 1258-1276.
- Senn, C.Y. (2012). Education on resistance to acquaintance sexual assault: Preliminary promise of a new program for young women in high school and university. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Sciences, 45(1), 24-33.
- Senn, C.Y. (2011). An imperfect feminist journey: Reflections on the process to develop an effective sexual assault resistance program for university women. Feminism & Psychology, 21(1), 121-137.
- Senn, C. Y., & Desmarais, S. (2006). A new wrinkle on an old concern: Are the new ethics requirements for explicit warnings in consent forms affecting our data? Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 15(3-4), 123-132.
- Senn, C.Y., & Desmarais, S. (2004). The impact of interaction with a partner or friend on the exposure effects of pornography and erotica. Violence and Victims, 19(6), 19-32.
- Senn, C. Y., Eliasziw, M., Barata, P. C., Thurston, W. E., Newby-Clark, I. R., Radtke, H. L., & Hobden, K. L. (2015). Efficacy of a sexual assault resistance program for university women. New England Journal of Medicine, 372(24), 2326-2335.
- Senn, C. Y., Eliasziw, M., Barata, P. C., Thurston, W. E., Newby-Clark, I. R., Radtke, H. L., & Hobden, K. L. (2014). Sexual violence in the lives of first-year university women in Canada: no improvements in the 21st century. BMC Women's Health, 14(1), 1.
- Senn, C. Y., Eliasziw, M., Barata, P. C., Thurston, W. E., Newby-Clark, I. R., Radtke, H. L., & Hobden, K. L. (2013). Sexual assault resistance education for university women: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial (SARE trial). BMC Women's Health, 13, 25.
- Senn, C. Y., & Forrest, A. (2015). "And then one night when I went to class...": The impact of sexual assault bystander intervention workshops incorporated in academic courses. Psychology of Violence.
- Senn, C. Y., Gee, S. S., & Thake, J. (2011). Emancipatory sexuality education and sexual assault resistance does the former enhance the latter? Psychology of Women Quarterly, 35(1), 72-91.
- St. Pierre, M., & Senn, C. Y. (2010). External barriers to help-seeking encountered by Canadian gay and lesbian victims of intimate partner abuse: An application of the barriers model. Violence & Victims, 25(4), 536-552.
Other Publications:
- Bridges, A.J., Senn, C.Y. & Andrews, A. R. (2013). Women, erotica, and pornography. In D. Castañeda (Ed.), An Essential Handbook of Women's Sexuality (pp. 253-271). Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.
- Forrest, A., & Senn, C.Y. (accepted). Theory Becomes Practice: The Bystander Initiative at the University of Windsor. In Liz Quinlan, Andrea Quinlan, and Curtis Fogel (Eds.), Sexual Assault on Canadian University and College Campuses. Wilfrid Laurier University Press.
- Gavey, N., & Senn, C.Y. (2013). Sexual violence and sexuality. In D. Tolman & L. Diamond (Eds.), Handbook on Sexuality and Psychology (pp. 339-382). Washington: American Psychological Association.
- Lafreniere, K., Page, S., & Senn, C.Y. (forthcoming). Applying social psychology to the community. In F. Schneider, J. Gruman, & L. Coutts (Eds.), Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems, Third Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
- Senn, C.Y. (2010). Violence against women and girls: What feminist counsellors need to know to begin their work with women. In Lynda R. Ross (Ed.), Feminist Counselling: Theory, Issues, and Practice (pp. 77-99). Toronto: Canadian Scholars/Women’s Press.
Courses Taught:
Charlene Y. Senn
Department of Psychology and Women's and Gender Studies Program
University of Windsor
401 Sunset Avenue, Chrysler Hall South, Room 180
Windsor, Ontario N9B 3P4
Canada
- Phone: (519) 253-3000, ext. 2255
- Fax: (519) 973-7021