Impacts of Rape on the Victim

The Hardships of Rape

Often times, the topic of rape is misunderstood or avoided. Rape is defined as the enforcement of sexual intentions onto another’s body. It is a crime that may be committed between two people of the same gender or of different genders. On the other hand, rape can be defined as any forced sexual maneuvers such as oral, penetrative, or anal sex. Rape victims frequently suffer from physical and psychological trauma and statistics say that, “there are 321,500 victims of rape and sexual assault each year in the United States.” (RAINN). Rape can be painful to any victim psychologically or physically, but by today’s society stereotyping it into a gender issue can make it significantly more painful for the victim to cope or receive help.

There are several different types of rape that can be investigated. Intercourse between a minor and an adult is considered statutory rape and any adult involved can be convicted even if it was willingly sex. Date rape is another type of rape and is defined when the victim was drugged and forced to have sexual intercourse that was unwanted in a date like setting. Surprisingly, incest is commonly a situation of rape, whether it be between a parent and a child or any other kind of relationship. “Of surveyed college women, about 90% of rape and sexual assault victims knew their attacker prior to the assault.” (WCSAP). The fact that the rape victim knew their rapist prior to the attack can lead to an excess of any painful outcomes that may take place, especially PTSD and fear. Many rape victims previously knew their rapist, therefore, the victim loses trust in multiple people whether they’ve known the person for years or not.

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Along those lines, rape cannot be avoided in any one particular way. There isn’t a right or wrong way for one to protect themselves from the horrible crime of rape. Rape may be avoided by not walking alone at night or by not trusting someone that one may not know well to come into ones house while one is home alone. If one feels followed they may turn a corner, approach a place where there will be activity, or turn around and ask what the person wants. If the last option is one’s only option they should be prepared by carrying a form of weapon. There are a lot of negative outcomes that are inflicted onto a rape victim and any way that one could protect or defend themselves is strongly advised.

There are various physical or psychological, painful side effects for any victim of rape. If the results are physical symptoms, they may include; STD’s, bruising, abrasions, UTI’s, or pregnancy. Bleeding and soreness are the most common physical symptoms associated with rape since it is normally forced sexual intentions and the victim of such incident is probably fighting the crime. If the results are psychological they may included; guilt, depression, anger, PTSD, flashbacks, or disappointment. Depression and PTSD are the most common psychological side effects of rape because it can cause personal feelings and withdraws from oneself. The increase of drugs or alcohol may increase after the math and Ph.D. scholar, G. Kilpatrick, stated in an article that “almost one-third (31%) of all rape victims developed PTSD sometime during their lifetime; and more than one in ten rape victims (11%) still has PTSD today.” ( National Violence Against Women Prevention Research Center). Sexual dysfunction can occur and women may have issues with their fertility or menstrual cycle. When one is raped, any outcome possible will be negative whether it is physical or physiological.

Though one would think that, since the outcomes of a rape crime are so significant, it would be easy to file a claim on the account of a rape, it is not for several reasons. Rape doesn’t always show forceful injuries, therefore, it can be hard to prove that something happened without evidence. Often times, rape is hard to identify because it doesn’t involve a male’s penis going into a woman’s vagina or male’s rectum, however, it may be other objects or body parts. “In 2014, it was discovered that the US has a backlog of over 400,000 rape kits,” therefore mistakes can happen and things may not be detected in order to prove that one was raped. (Ferguson) On the other hand, rape kits cannot detect if it was consented or not. Due to the feelings of guilt, hopelessness, and disbelief tend to persuade victims to not come forward and say something. Additionally, the idea that rape only affects women by today’s society, some men may never report the fact that they were once a rape victim and move on as if nothing happened.

There are innumerable misinterpretations when one hears the word “rape.” Today’s society will stereotype and say that rape happens when a woman makes herself seem as if she is an “easy target” by overindulging on alcohol, taking drugs, or dressing provocatively. However, this is not true because men can be as easily raped as women can. Men try not to be powerless so they act courageous and sturdy by trying not to let the fact that they are a rape victim bother them.  This is also part of the reason that the numbers for male rape are lower and this is shown by a statistic that says that, “as of 1998, 2.78 million men in the U.S. had been victims of attempted or completed rape” (RAINN). This number of 2.78 million can be compared to the number of women that have been raped, “as of 1998, at an estimated 17.7 million American women.” While the number difference is so large we can still see that men do indeed get raped. Even though the number is less significant any act of a rape crime should be handled seriously and those numbers should be lowered. The people of today will say that a male will spike a female’s beverage while out at a party or dinner to take control of her. A total of 19.4 percent of the population in 2018 was in a form of a date rape crime. While this number seems low, we can look at the difference between the male population being 1.4 percent while the female population was 18 percent. The male population is again extremely low, however, it is still the simple fact that 19.4 percent of our population was raped at some point or another and that amount of people is outrageous. (P, Kim)

On the other hand, most victims of rape do not acknowledge that what they went through was considered rape. They twist and turn the situation in any way that will make it seem like they were in the wrong and not a victim of rape. Most unwanted sexual interactions lead to the victim suffering from a form of PTSD that will overcome their emotions and due to the fact that many areas seem to have different laws as to what rape or sexual assault is, it may be hard for a victim to understand if what they experienced was really rape or not.

Looking at a rape victims story may shed light onto the pain and suffering victims may encounter. Brigid Harry had a severely impactful rape story that took her lots of power and ambition to be able to tell. Brigid was enlisted into the army and when her base doctor offered her to dinner and the movies off base she took it upon herself to go have fun. The nurse made it very clear that there was to be no intimate feelings or actions included on this “date” and that it was only a friendly outgoing. He picked her up and stopped by his house saying he had to get something and offered her to come inside. Reluctantly, Brigid went inside and they decided to make chicken at his apartment. The nurse poured her multiple drinks, one after another, and after the 3rd drink Brigid realized she was buzzed and asked when the chicken would be finished. At the same moment she asked about the chicken, the nurse leaned in to kiss her. She pulled away and excused herself to the bathroom. When she came out the man was standing outside the door with his pants on the ground. He firmly grabbed Brigid and forced her to have sex with him. Other than being emotionally impacted, Brigid only had a small abrasion on her inner thighs due to her jeans. She went back to base that night and the next day she informed her base’s chaplain and he seemed to only be worried about whether or not she was pregnant. When she called her mother, she was only worried about paperwork, so Brigid didn’t know what to do. She wrote an article about her story and how it may not have been the worst rape of her life, however, it did impact her mindset and the fact that nobody was super worried concerned her. She became a journalist in the navy and helped victims of rape.

Statistics say that “somewhere in America, a woman is raped every two minutes.” (WCSAP). If a woman is raped every two minutes that is equivalent to 720 women raped a day and an average of 21,600 woman raped every month. Many rape crimes are committed by the same rapist since hundreds of women do not speak out so the police can find and convict the criminal. Rape is often dismissed due to lack of information or continuity of the story from the victim, therefore, the victim of rape may be released back out with the rapist in a 25 mile radius of her house. Rape is an undermined crime that has been stereotyped by many people in our society. Today’s people are cruel, corrupt, and manipulative. Rape crimes should be listened to, supported, and dealt with.

Works Cited

• “Effects of Rape: Psychological and Physical Effects of Rape.” HealthyPlace, www.healthyplace.com/abuse/rape/effects-of-rape-psychological-and-physical-effects-of-rape.
• Ferguson, Sian. “4 Reasons Why Medical Examinations Can’t Always Prove If Someone Was Raped.”Everyday Feminism, 16 Oct. 2016, everydayfeminism.com/2016/10/medical-exams-cant-prove-rape/. 
• “Hesperian Health Guides.”How to Avoid Rape -  Hesperian Health Guides, en.hesperian.org/hhg/Where_Women_Have_No_Doctor:How_to_Avoid_Rape.
• Joyfullheartfoundation.org, www.joyfulheartfoundation.org/learn/sexual-assault-rape/effects-sexual-assault-and-rape.
• Jr, William C. Shiel. “Definition of Rape.” MedicineNet, www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=12412.
• Lowen, Linda. “Get One Woman’s Horrifying Story of Rape in the Military.” ThoughtCo, ThoughtCo, 18 Sept. 2018, www.thoughtco.com/rape-in-the-military-womans-story-3534132.
• Mental Health Impact of Rape, mainweb-v.musc.edu/vawprevention/research/mentalimpact.shtml.
• Manager, Program. “How Often Does It Happen?”Program Manager , www.wcsap.org/help/about-sexual-assault/how-often-does-it-happen.
• P, Kim. “Date Rape Statistics.”CreditDonkey,www.creditdonkey.com/date-rape-statistics.html. 
• Ro, Christine. “Future – Why Most Rape Victims Never Acknowledge What  Happened.” BBC, BBC, 6 Nov. 2018, www.bbc.com/future/story/20181102-why-dont-rape-and-sexual-assault-victims-come-forward.
• “Victims of Sexual Violence: Statistics.” RAINN, www.rainn.org/statistics/victims-sexual-violence.