Recent studies have documented the high prevalence and incidence of rape in America. The majority of women perform self-protective actions when faced with a sexually violent assault, in the form of screaming, running away, or physically fighting. Self-protective actions have been a focus of the criminal justice system with both law enforcement officers and prosecutors using women’s physical resistance to rape as a way to lend credibility to their claim of sexual assault. However, it can be difficult to employ physical self-protective actions for certain circumstances, such as when the incident occurs in an isolated location. There has been little research examining situational constraints to physical resistance. This study attempted to address the gap in literature through an empirical investigation of the effects of the sexual assault context on the use of self-protective actions. The study examined six situational variables on the use of self-protective actions. The sample of female victims of rape and attempted rape was drawn from the incident-level files of the 1992-2001 National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) by the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. The results indicate that certain situational characteristics differentiated those who used verbal protective action and those who used physical resistance. Those using verbal protective action were more likely to have been attacked at night, threatened with a weapon, and assaulted by a prior or current romantic partner than someone who chose physical resistance. Overall, the study found that the likelihood that sexual assault victims would use verbal, physical, or no self-protective actions varied upon the context of the assault. In addition, situational factors affect victim decisionmaking; the psychological process alone does not determine a woman’s reaction to a sexual attack. The decision to use self-protective actions remains a personal one. References