We were recently pleasantly surprised to receive a message through our website, from Katrina K. Pimentel (California USA).
In attaining her Doctorate of Education in Educational Leadership, Katrina focussed her dissertation on Dismantling Rape Culture, and was awarded the “Graduate with Distinction Award” at CSU Sacramento.
A very brief summary of the study is given in the opening words of the Abstract:
“Sexual violence is a pervasive problem on colleges that affects 20% of college women (Burnett et al., 2009). Moreover, the Rape Abuse Incest National Network (RAINN) (2011) reported that 90% of the rapes against college women are committed by just 3-7% of college men. To continue in the tradition of feminist scholars, the purpose of this study was to assess the influence of a male-dominated culture on the lived experience of college students and its relationship to rape culture (androcentric society) in order to facilitate in the transformation of society from one that condones rape to one that dismantles it by raising conscientização (critical consciousness) (Freire, 1970; 1993).”
The full dissertation is a seriously impressive piece of research and utterly validates the importance of the work that we (Educate2Empower Publishing) do in creating early education resources to make a positive change to the current culture — promoting safety and equal rights for all. In Katrina's own words, "[her] research findings point to transforming curriculum to dismantle the harmful ideologies that contribute to a rape culture and critical literacies potentiate a way to facilitate this change.”
In Chapter 5, she cites our book Pearl Fairweather, Pirate Captain as critical literature for early-age counter-acting of society’s muting of girls, and No Difference Between Us as a facilitator for the development of children’s social skills. In the same chapter, within the Body Safety & Bystander Education section, Katrina highlights our publications as “designed to promote learning and conversations about consent, gender equality, respectful relationships, and body safety education in order to build agency and voice in young children”.
We are humbled to have received such recognition within a vital dissection of cultural issues and solutions and even more humbled to have received permission from Katrina to share her dissertation with our own connections via our website.
You can read the full publication at:
http://csus-dspace.calstate.edu/handle/10211.3/191911
Dismantling Rape Culture: A Critical Examination of Androcentrism in America
Pimentel, K.K. (2017). Dissertation, CSU Sacramento.
