Resistance to Sexual Assault: Who Resists and What Happens?

• NCJ Number: 114966
• Journal: American Journal of Public Health Volume: 79 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1989) Pages: 27-31
• Author(s): J M Siegel; S B Sorenson; J M Golding; M A Burnam; J A Stein
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 5 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Free online PDF and HTML access to the American Journal of Public Health is provided by the publisher 24 months after individual issues are released.

Annotation

To determine who resists sexual assault and what happens, data were examined from a probability sample of 3,132 adult community residents of the Los Angeles epidemiologic catchment areas.

Abstract

Of respondents reporting a lifetime sexual assault, 75 percent (365) indicated that they had attempted to resist the most recent assault. Talking was the most frequently used resistance strategy. In both univariate and multivariate analyses, individuals whose most recent assault occurred in adulthood (age 16 or older) were more likely to report they resisted assault than were those individuals whose most recent assault occurred in childhood. Univariate analyses show that resistance strategy matched assailant strategy: i.e., use of force by the assailant was associated with physical resistance by the victim, while use of pressure by the assailant was associated with verbal resistance. Women were most likely than men to utilize physical resistance. This probably reflects the fact that, for those describing an adult assault, harm or threat of harm was more frequently reported by female than male respondents. In keeping with past research results, resistance, particularly verbal resistance, reduced the probability of sexual contact. Conversely, physical resistance was associated with increased likelihood of sexual contact. These effects did not emerge in multivariate analyses, suggesting that the relation of resistance to outcome is a function of other variables, most likely assailants' use of force. 3 tables and 19 references. (Author abstract modified)