title: College women's perceptions regarding resistance to sexual assault.
abstract: College women's perceptions about resistance to sexual assault were examined. Twenty-one percent of the 334 women surveyed stated that they had been sexually assaulted. The vast majority of participants had changed their lifestyles to prevent a sexual assault. Less than 1 woman in 5 of those surveyed had taken a self-defense class. Participants believed that resisting sexual assault by a stranger with a weapon was more likely than resisting an unarmed attacker to increase their chances of being physically harmed, raped, or murdered. Twenty-two percent of the participants said they were "very likely" to resist sexual assault by a stranger with a weapon; 52% would resist a stranger without a weapon. The findings indicate the need for an increase in the number of women taking self-defense classes and a revision in women's perceptions about resisting sexual assault.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion, University of Toledo, Ohio, USA.
authors.forename: A N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Easton
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Summers
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tribble
authors.forename: P B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Wallace
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Lock
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011902:Rape / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D017406:Sexual Harassment / Q000523:psychology*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014495:Universities