This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by ULLMAN, S. E. Articles by KNIGHT, R. A. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by ULLMAN, S. E. Articles by KNIGHT, R. A. Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Fighting Back

Women's Resistance to Rape

Brandeis University

RAYMOND A. KNIGHT

Brandeis University and Massachusetts Treatment Center

Women's resistance strategies to rape were examined using police reports and the court testimonies of 274 women who either avoided rape or were raped by subsequently incarcerated sex offenders. The sequence of behaviors in the offender-victim interaction was analyzed to determine whether women who resist rape with physical force are, as some have suggested, exacerbating the potential for physical injury or are simply responding to the severity of the offender's physical attack. The results indicated that 85% of the women in the study who resisted with physical force did so in response to the offender's initiated violence. The remaining 15% who resisted with physical force did so in response to the offender's verbal aggression. Moreover, those women who responded with physical aggression to the offender's violent physical attack were more likely to avoid rape than were women who did not resist such force. Also, the potential for physical injury was no greater for these women than for those who used other resistance strategies or who offered no resistance. These analyses suggest that the frequently found correlation between physical resistance and injury of the woman might be the result of the initial level of the offender's violence and should not be used to discourage women from physically resisting rape.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C. A. Gidycz, A. Van Wynsberghe, and K. M. Edwards Prediction of Women's Utilization of Resistance Strategies in a Sexual Assault Situation: A Prospective Study J Interpers Violence, May 1, 2008; 23(5): 571 - 588. [Abstract] [PDF]

				E. Beauregard and B. Leclerc An Application of the Rational Choice Approach to the Offending Process of Sex Offenders: A Closer Look at the Decision-making Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, June 1, 2007; 19(2): 115 - 133. [Abstract] [PDF]

				S. E. Ullman A 10-Year Update of "Review and Critique of Empirical Studies of Rape Avoidance" Criminal Justice and Behavior, March 1, 2007; 34(3): 411 - 429. [Abstract] [PDF]

				N. L. ASDIGIAN and D. FINKELHOR What Works for Children in Resisting Assaults? J Interpers Violence, December 1, 1995; 10(4): 402 - 418. [Abstract] [PDF]