Rape​—Protected by What She Read

WHAT should you do if confronted by a rapist? There is conflicting advice. Some claim that resistance only goads on an attacker, yet the Bible indicates a woman should resist. (Deuteronomy 22:23-27) What is the best advice?

A new study published in the January issue of The American Journal of Public Health suggests resistance. The article says: “The empirical research converges to support one important conclusion: resistance reduces the probability of an assault being completed.” What happened last September to a woman in Japan illustrates this. She had just returned late at night to her home, where she lives alone. She explains:

“A rapist came into my house and locked the door. Because of being taken by surprise and being so terrified, I completely froze. The man tried to pull me into the bedroom, but I grabbed a pillar and resisted him.

“It was then that I remembered the scripture in Deuteronomy chapter 22. It says that if a woman does not cry out when attacked, it indicates she is submitting to the man and is committing a sin against Jehovah. Also, I remembered what I read in the Awake! article ‘Rape​—How Can You Protect Yourself?’​—October 8, 1980, Japanese edition; July 8, 1980, English edition.

“Anyway, I thought: ‘I have got to scream and resist him for all I’m worth.’ So I shouted: ‘Jehovah, help me!’ over and over again and kept it up. When the rapist pulled my hands to the right, I pulled to the left. When he pulled me forward, I pulled back, and when he covered my mouth to try to stop me from screaming, I bit him. At any rate, I kept on resisting him.

“Gradually I got tired. It was getting difficult for me to breathe, and I thought my heart was going to stop, but I continued to do all I could to resist him and kept on calling out to Jehovah to help me. As a result, the rapist gave up, walked hurriedly to the door, and went out.

“I believe that I was able to avoid being raped because of Jehovah’s help and because of applying what I had read in Awake! Had I not read the Awake! article, I think that out of fear I would have kept quiet and most likely done just as the criminal said. Thank you very, very much.”