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Stopping Rape: Successful Survival Strategies. Pauline B. Bart and Patricia H. O'Brien. New York: Pergamon Press, 1985. 201pp, $11.95.
Stopping Rape is a report of a research project involving interviews of 94 women who either were raped or avoided rape. The women were recruited through newspaper ads, public service announcements, and personal contacts. Only those who had been involved in a rape or an attempted rape involving force or the threat of force were included in the sample. The book is written so that there are rich data for the researcher, and there is relevant, meaningful material for the counselor and the educated layperson. Detailed case studies are integrated with theoretical analyses throughout the book. There are also verbatim transcripts of some of the rape victim interviews in the Appendix. Another useful innovation is an index of references to various cases within the text. The book is well written and interesting to read.
Bart and O'Brien are concerned with helping women. They feel that the findings of their research are of value for all women and should be widely publicized. As they point out, any woman is a potential victim of rape. They feel that by learning about the rape avoidance strategies identified by their respondents, women will be better able to prevent their own rapes. Some of the defense techniques they discuss include:
* Fleeing from the attacker(s).
* Screaming or otherwise attracting attention.
* Using verbal techniques to dissuade the attacker.
* Using physical force.
However, these rape avoidance strategies are not always effective. Thus, 72% of the women who were raped had tried to reason with their attacker. Sixty-seven percent of the rape avoiders used this same technique. Physical force was more often successful (used by 33% of the rape victims and 59% of the rape avoiders). Even more successful was trying to flee, although few women actually tried to do this. Many of the women in their sample had attempted to use two or more of the strategies the authors discuss. Use of several different strategies was found to be more effective than using...