Citation

Siegel JM, Sorenson SB, Golding JM, Burnam MA, Stein JA. Am. J. Public Health 1989; 79(1): 27-31.

Affiliation

Division of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education, School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles 90024.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1989, American Public Health Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

2909177

PMCID

PMC1349462

Abstract

To determine who resists sexual assault and what happens, data were examined from a probability sample of 3,132 adult community residents of Los Angeles, California. Seventy-five per cent of the respondents reporting an assault (n = 365) indicated that they had attempted to resist their most recent assault; talking was the most frequently used resistance strategy. The strongest predictor to emerge in the multivariate analyses of resistance was timing of assault: respondents assaulted only in childhood were less likely to resist than either respondents assaulted only in adulthood, or respondents assaulted in both phases. Univariate analyses indicated that resistance reduced the probability of sexual contact, however multivariate analyses suggested that assailant use of force was the most important determinant of assault outcome.