In Their Own Words: Sexual Assault Resistance Strategies Among Kenyan Adolescent Girls Following Participation in an Empowerment Self-Defense Program

Abstract

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). A subset of girls from the larger trials participated. 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.