2.5.1 Victim resistance.
The use or non-use of resistance strategies by the victim in a sexual offence is regarded to be one of the strongest predictors of sexual assault outcome. When looking at the broad patterns of resistance, research has consistently shown that the likelihood of
a rape being completed is significantly increased when the victim offers no resistance compared with when the victim engages in some form of self-protective action (Fisher et al., 2007; Clay-Warner, 2002; Ullman, 2007; Guerette & Santana, 2010). To further explore how, and particularly when, the use of self-protective strategies is most effective, Clay-Warner (2002) and Guerette and Santana (2010) analysed data from the National Crime Victimization Survey and found that among those women who engaged in self-protection, the use of direct physical resistance (e.g. hitting, kicking) and forceful verbal resistance (e.g. screaming to attract attention) offered the best chances for rape avoidance.
In comparison, non-resistance and unforceful verbal resistance were found to relate to the completion of unwanted sexual contact. This is largely congruent with the other work exploring the association between victim self-protection and sexual assault outcomes (Ullman & Knight, 1992; Clay-Warner, 2002; Ullman, 2007; Fisher, Daigle, & Cullen, 2010b). Also of significance in the work of Clay-Warner (2002), was that the effectiveness of physical resistance did not change even after controlling for situational variables. This outcome is consistent with Levine-MacCombie & Koss (1986) who found that the physical strategies deemed to be most useful for avoiding stranger rapes could similarly be generalized to acquaintance rape. In line with the principles of target hardening, which propose that visible defences reduce opportunities for offending, these findings therefore suggest there may be benefit in raising women’s awareness of the general effectiveness that physical resistance can offer against a sexual assailant (Clay-Warner, 2003).
Following this increased support for the adoption of physical resistance, there have been concerns raised about whether women who employ forceful actions might in fact be putting themselves at an increased risk of injury (Ullman, 2007). Early work exploring this potential, unintended consequence indicated that women who physically
fight back in response to rape were more likely to sustain physical injuries (Marchbanks, Lui, & Mercy, 1990; Bart & O’Brien, 1985). However, these studies were limited by several factors – namely that they did not take into consideration whether it was the resistance which led to injury, or if the injury was inflicted before resistance. Drawing on this weakness, Ullman and Knight (1992) examined the temporal sequence of victim and offender actions in sexual assaults and identified that women who used an immediate and forceful resistance tactic (e.g. screaming, kicking) did not exacerbate their likelihood of sustaining a physical injury. Interestingly, self-protection was also found to do little for reducing a person’s chances of injury suggesting that it might rather be the initial aggression of the offender, as opposed to the reaction of the victim, which is the most important determinant of victim injury (Siegel, Sorenson, Golding, Burnam, & Stein, 1989). The outcomes of Ullman and Knight (1992) highlight the importance of assessing the entirety of the criminal event when making recommendations about self-protective and preventative measures.
2.5.2 Substance use.
The use of alcohol and/or drugs has been demonstrated to have a disinhibiting effect in the commission of unwanted sexual contact. Ullman (2003) suggests that when men and women engage in heavy drinking episodes they put themselves at an increased risk of perpetrating, or being victim to, a sexual assault. This is supported by the observation that approximately half to two-thirds of all sexual assaults involve the consumption of alcohol by either the victim or offender (Ullman, 2007; Wall & Quadara, 2014). Further, research into the impact of visceral states, such as intoxication, within the decision making process indicates that experiencing one of these states can serve to focus an individual’s attention on servicing their own needs (e.g. sexual gratification) at the cost of considering their impact on others and other potential consequences (Lowenstein,
1996; Bouffard, 2014;). Under these conditions, an individual who has recently consumed a reasonable volume of alcohol might have a heightened potential for committing a sexually aggressive act because of their altered cost-perception (Leclerc & Lindegaard, 2017).
In considering the relationship between intoxication and sexual offending, it is important to highlight that alcohol consumption preceding a sexual assault has also been found to share a correlation with other factors related to offence outcome (namely interactions in a public setting) (Ullman, 2007). As such, it is not necessarily the case that alcohol plays a causal role in sexual offences against adult women. Evidence for this is offered by the mixed conclusions within current literature regarding the extent and direction of the relationship between victim and offender pre-assault alcohol use and rape completion (See for example Brecklin & Ullman, 2001; Brecklin & Ullman, 2002). It is clear that more research is needed exploring the role alcohol plays in sexual offending events. However until this becomes available, one possible explanation based on available studies is that alcohol use interacts with risky social contexts to increase risk of sexual victimization (Ullman, 2007; 2003).
This suggestion is particularly well supported in research involving college-aged populations which indicates that alcohol-involved sexual assaults more often occur between casual acquaintances who met at either a party or a bar (Abbey, Ross, McDuffie,
& McAuslan, 1996; Ullman, Karabatsos & Koss, 1999). Analyses of assault characteristics in sexual offences against adult women also suggest that alcohol consumption by victims and offenders tends to co-occur. This is seen to be consistent across all types of victim-offender relationships (Ullman & Brecklin, 2000).
2.5.3 Guardianship.
When considering characteristics of the immediate situation in which sexual offences against women occur, there is evidence to suggest that the offender and victim are often not the only people present across the crime commission process. This presence of third-parties (who may be considered as potential guardians) and the ways in which these people respond to witnessing sexual offences involving adult female victims is the particular focus of the current research. With a more critical discussion of the knowledge on guardianship to feature in the following chapter, it will be said here that very little is known about the role and significance of guardians in the commission of sexual offences against women. At best it can be inferred from current research that offence completion is less likely when guardians are available and present (Ullman, 2007; Guerette &
Santana, 2010). Beyond this, limited detail is available regarding who these guardians are, or should be, and the intervention behaviours, if any, that are needed to either prevent or disrupt an offence (Hart & Miethe, 2008). Drawing together this existing, albeit limited, understanding of guardianship in sexual offences against adult women, what can tentatively be suggested is that the presence of other persons beyond those who typically commit and are victim to sexual offending, offers significant potential for increasing the likelihood of disruption.