Rape Resistance Strategies

Based on what I know from my classes in offender rehabilitation therapy, most rapists are not expecting physical resistance... however, there is a significant percentage of domestic violence that escalates during the incident to rape, where the violence is ongoing of course. In those cases, physical resistance isn't as effective for obvious reasons.

I suspect your numbers don't reflect this because rape during DV isn't counted separately, it's usually just classed as domestic violence.

As an aside, apparently military-grade pepper spray is the most effective non-lethal deterrent, or to put it another way, most effective deterrent short of killing the perpetrator. Probably because it's hard to do anything after a dose of that. [you can't see, breath or think of anything other than the burning pain.]

It surprises me not, that it's also banned from public ownership.

I happen to like this video record of a woman defending her phone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDipspMAyJg

She has been taught the right moves: how to punch with karate force, the kick to the testicles, boxing the ears. Also to get our and away as soon as possible in case she broke some law defending herself.

The point is that these moves are all easy to learn if one is not "disabled / challenged" in some way -- *all* young women should be taught them and taught to use them.

As you point out, this pathetic boy in the subway was NOT expecting any real resistance. Once punched, he immediately spread his legs a little to prepare to hit her back, and left himself open to the groin kick.

One reason I liked seeing this is that the incident had no bad long term effects. The attacker probably got up and walked home about ten minutes later, and I hope he never tried casual robbery again. (Though the groin kick might have prevented future sexual violence as well.)

Um. Now I wonder what "most advice" is. My advice is "strike back, hard, fast, and semi-unexpectedly" (a hammer blow to the bridge of the nose is good; an attempted knee to the balls is much less likely to succeed unless you've done a lot more kicking than most), then, while making a lot of noise, *get away*.

But I think the hard part is that most rapes aren't the kind where people are easily able to make the shift to "I should be willing to draw a gun to protect myself," and I'm really not sure the law is ready for that, either - except, obviously, when the assailant is a violent stranger.

I'm familiar with these, and I'm also very frustrated by them because they would've been totally useless with all the rape in my family. It was all wrapped up in incest and financial abuse--how can you attack your rapist when he's a Marine fresh from Okinawa, and you're seven years old, and also he's the sole income of the entire family? And I know that even when her boyfriend started raping her, my sisters were too confused to recognize it as such and would not have been able to physically attack someone they loved. Our brain, unfortunately, can't flip the switch from "beloved boyfriend" to "HOLY SHIT HE'S RAPING ME" that fast.

These might be useful in the stranger danger rapes... but those are like 10% of rapes. In the situations that afflicted my family, I imagine it would've been dangerous. What I REALLY would love to see as rape resistance strategies is how to recognize emotional abuse and manipulation that usually presage rapes, and also more community backlash against perpetrators so people like my mother wouldn't be left without recourse.

--Rogan