Search

The purpose of this study was to examine, via testimonial data, resistance strategies used to thwart a sexual assault among slum-dwelling Kenyan adolescent girls ( N   =  678) following their participation in an empowerment self-defense program ( IMpower ). The majority (58.2%) of perpetrators were strangers; there were no differences in resistance strategies used between strangers versus known perpetrators (83.8% used verbal strategies, 33.2% used resistance strategies, 16.7% ran away, and 7.9% used distraction). Associations between resistance strategies and perpetrator tactics, number of assailants, location of the assault, and the presence of a bystander were also examined., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.