Does self-defense increase a woman’s risk of injury?

Excerpt from Jocelyn Hollander, Ph.D. University of Oregon
“Women’s Self-Defense Frequently Asked Questions,” September 15, 2014. 

No. There is an association between resistance and injury, in that women who resist a sexual assault are also more likely to be injured. But research that looks at the sequence of events has found that in general, the injury precedes the resistance. In other words, women resist because they are being injured, rather than being injured because they resist. On average, resistance does not increase the risk of injury.

References
Ullman, Sarah E., and R. A. Knight. 1992. “Fighting Back: Women’s Resistance to Rape.”Journal of Interpersonal Violence 7:31–43.

Ullman, Sarah E, and Raymond A Knight. 1993. “The efficacy of women’s resistance strategies in rape situations.” Psychology of Women Quarterly17(1):23–38.