New York, Jan 22 (IANS): A virtual reality programme can help teenaged girls overcome sexual victimisation and make them more assertive, researchers found.

The training programme called "My Voice, My Choice," emphasises that victims do not invite sexual violence and that they have the right to stand up for themselves because violent or coercive behaviour is never OK.

"Teenage girls were less likely to report being sexually victimised after learning to assertively resist unwanted sexual overtures and practicing resistance in a realistic virtual environment," said clinical psychologist Lorelei Simpson Rowe, lead author of the pilot study from Southern Methodist University, Dallas.

The effects persisted over a three-month period following the training.

The research also found that those girls who had previously experienced dating violence reported lower levels of psychological aggression and psychological distress after completing the programme, relative to girls in a comparison group.

"The virtual simulations allowed girls to practice being assertive in a realistic environment," Rowe added.

The intent of the programme is for the learning opportunity to increase the likelihood that they will use the skills in real life.

"It is very promising that learning resistance skills and practicing them in virtual simulations of coercive interactions could reduce the risk for later sexual victimisation," Rowe pointed out.

Future research is needed to establish the benefits of the programme across different age groups and populations.

The study's strengths included its randomised controlled design and a high participant retention rate among the 78 teenage girls in the study.

The findings were reported in the journal Behavior Therapy