FIGHTING BACK

Women have long been advised not to fight back when confronting a potential
rapist. Research has indicated that while women who defend themselves are less
likely to be raped, they also experience more abuse and injury. But recent work
calls the old data into question.

University of Illinois at Chicago psychologist Sarah Ullman studied the cases of
274 women who were either raped or avoided rape and whose attackers were
arrested and convicted. But in the first study of its kind, she looked not only
at ``did the woman fight and what happened to her,'' but at what point the woman
resisted, Ullman says.

She found that the women who fought back cut their chances of rape more than
those who didn't resist. In addition, they suffered no more injury and abuse
than the passive women.

Even so, Ullman wouldn't advise all women to resist violently. ``Every situation
is unique,'' she says, ``and every woman different.''

Judith Siegel of UCLA's School of Public Health turned up similar findings. She
feels that most research supports resistance, while anecdotal advice promotes
passivity.