Ep 4: Fighting Back

by | Jun 3, 2015 | Podcast | 0 comments

 

Ep 4: Fighting Back and does it work?

Almost all studies show that resistance is successful in preventing the completion of a personal crime.  This holds true in rape, robbery, and assault (23).  Resistance is an especially effective tactic in preventing most rapes.  A woman who physically resists a rapist doubles her chance of escaping rape (24). and that even includes NOT having proper training.
Woman with self defense training have outstanding odds. In fact,
 sociologist Jocelyn Hollander did a study and looks at the outcomes for 117 college students who received this self-defense training versus a control group of 169 students who did not. Of those, seventy-five from the first group and 108 from the second agreed to take part in a follow-up survey or interview.
The results are clear: a much lower percentage of the women who took the self-defense class reported incidents of unwanted sexual contact than the women who did not take the class
These are some statistical percentages of victim’s success in avoiding rape during an attack with different methods.

 

– Victims crying or pleading were raped 96% of the time

– Victims who loudly screamed were raped between 44% and 50% of the time

– Victims who ran were raped 15% of the time

– Victims who forcefully resisted (without a weapon) were raped 14% of the time

– Women who resisted with knives or guns were raped less than 1% of the time

Now, lets talk about if the attacker has a firearm.
Most criminals don’t have very reliable high end guns. Most don’t even have the money to buy ammo for it as they would rather buy drugs with the money they are trying to steel from you then ammunition.
It’s even known that if a criminal steels or acquires a high end fire arm they would rather sell it for the money then use it.
The article states that thirty percent of robberies are committed with unloaded guns.  An additional ten to fifteen percent of the firearms used in crimes are replica, toy, or BB guns (3).  That means that almost half of the guns used in crimes are unloaded or fake! They also show that 41% of the guns seized by the police from criminals don’t even work or are fakes!
Guns are extremely load and even drugged up criminals know that the sound of a shot is an easy way to get noticed. Most criminals are reluctant to fire the weapon as only 4.6% of victims in a violent crime with a firearm were actually shot.
Knives are a different story. They are quiet and easy to use, cheap, no reloading or ammo and extremely dangerous.
Knifes were used to cut or stab victims 12.7% of violent crimes.
If you are shot the studies show that 92% of gunshot victims are discharged from the hospital alive. 47% of them are discharged the same day. 
Overall, firearms assaults have a lethality rate of 5.4%.  Knife assaults kill victims in 1.1% of cases.  These statistics can be compared with a .06% lethality rate for assaults using bodily weapons (hands, feet, etc) (11).

1)      U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. “Weapon Use and Violent Crime”, September 2003..  NCJ 194820.

2)      Wright, Richard T, and Decker, Scott H. Armed Robbers in Action. Northeast University Press.  1997.  Pg. 97.

3)      Hockheim, Hock, Unarmed Versus The Knife.  Lauric Press.  2001.

4)      U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. “Weapon Use and Violent Crime”, September 2003.  NCJ 194820.

5)      U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. “Weapon Use and Violent Crime”, September 2003..  NCJ 194820.

6)      U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. “Weapon Use and Violent Crime”, September 2003..  NCJ 194820.

7)      Wright, James D. and Rossi, Peter H. Armed and Considered Dangerous, Aldine de Gruyter, 1986.

8)      U.S Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.  “Firearm Injury and Death from Crime, 1993-1997”.  November 2001.  NCJ 182993.

9)      U.S Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.  “Firearm Use by Offenders”.  October 2000.  NCJ 189369.

10)  U.S Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.  “Firearm Injury and Death from Crime, 1993-1997”.  November 2001.  NCJ 182993

11)  Harris, Thomas, Fisher, and Hirsh. “Murder and Medicine: The Lethality of Criminal Assault 1960-1999”. 2001.

12)  U.S Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, ““Criminal Victimization in the United States, 1999 Statistical Tables”, NCJ 184938, Table 68.

13)  Lott, John R.  More Guns Less Crime.  University of Chicago Press.  2000.  Pp 3-4.

14)  Caparatta, Paul.  Merchants at War.  Varro Press.  1998.  Pp. 24-25.

15)  Campbell, Anne.  Men, Women, and Aggression.  Basic Books.  1993.  Pg. 102.

16)  U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. “Weapon Use and Violent Crime”, September 2003.  NCJ 194820.

17)  Bachman, Saltzman, Thompson, and Carmody, “Disentangling the Effects of Self-Protective Behaviors on the Risk of Injury in Assaults Against Women”.  Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Vol. 18, No 2, June 2002.

18)  Ghiglieri, Michael P.  The Dark Side of Man.  Perseus Books.  1999.

19)  Bachman, Saltzman, Thompson, and Carmody, “Disentangling the Effects of Self-Protective Behaviors on the Risk of Injury in Assaults Against Women”.  Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Vol. 18, No 2, June 2002

20)  Michaud and Hazelwood.  The Evil That Men Do.  St. Martins True Crime.  1999.

21)  Siegel, Sorenson, Golding, Burnham, and Stein.  “Resistance to Sexual Assault: Who Resists and What Happens?”  American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 79, No. 1, January 1989.

22)  Kleck and Sayles.  “Rape and Resistance” Social Problems.  Vol. 37.  No. 2. 1990.

23)  Bachman, Saltzman, Thompson, and Carmody, “Disentangling the Effects of Self-Protective Behaviors on the Risk of Injury in Assaults Against Women”.  Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Vol. 18, No 2, June 2002

24)  Ghiglieri, Michael P.  The Dark Side of Man.  Perseus Books.  1999

25)  U.S Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, “Criminal Victimization in the United States, 1999 Statistical Tables”, NCJ 184938, Table 72.

26) Katz, Jack.  Seductions of Crime. 1988.  Page 180.

27) Kane and Wilder.  The Little Black Book of Violence.  YMAA Publication Center. 2009.  Page 217.

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