Rape Survivors Harassed

Statistics show that one-in-four girls will be sexually assaulted by age 18. Allison was assaulted when she was 18. “I was sexually assaulted my freshman year, two weeks after I got to college,” she says. She was raped, and that was just the beginning.

“The guy who assaulted me was showing up at my dorm. I remember one time there was a group of his friends that were out, and they just started bombarding me – almost leaping over a ledge and a table yelling at me, calling me names – so it was just hard just to function, and go to school, and get things accomplished,” she remembers.

Allison’s experience is all too common. Girls are often harassed and blamed after a rape. And the effect can be devastating.

Angella Bramwell, a licensed clinical social worker with Grady Hospital Rape Crisis Center, explains how this second victimization can affect the victim. “It magnifies her shame. She feels more shame. She’s not gonna want to come forth and get help. She’s gonna feel more guilty. She’s just kind of gonna shrink, and become invisible, and get more depressed.”

Allison agrees. She says she went through a period of depression. “I had to deal with a lot of harassment on a daily basis. And it’s something I thought about every single day when I woke up. And there were times where I just didn’t want to do it anymore.”

But she did. She filed charges. And though her rapist was never convicted, Allison didn’t let him win. “Reporting it to police is empowerment. It’s letting the perpetrator know that what (he) did was not okay. I’m aware of my legal rights, and I’m going to do something about it,” says Bramwell.

As for the harassment, experts say parents should encourage their daughters to walk away from the confrontation and harassment. Then get the help of school officials and the police if necessary to make it stop.

And then Allison says, surround your child with a protective circle of family and friends. “They came to all my hearings. They walked me to and from class. They would stay up with me at night when I couldn’t sleep. And just do anything to help me feel safe. And that was, it’s something I don’t think they even realize how much it meant to me,” she says.

Experts say it’s crucial for friends and acquaintances to believe and support a victim from beginning to end and never to blame or ostracize her.

Between 20 and 25 percent of women are victims of rape or attempted rape during their time at college. Although the legal definition of rape varies from state to state, rape is generally defined as forced or nonconsensual sexual intercourse. Rape may be accomplished by fear, threats of harm and/or actual physical force. The Department of Justice and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that one-in-six women have experienced an attempted rape or a completed rape. The ages of victims at the time of the rape may shock you: 22 percent were under the age of 12 and 54 percent were under the age of 18. Girls between 16 and 19 are sexually assaulted at twice the rate of other age groups.

• Rape is about violence and control, and sex is the weapon.
• Many rapists have otherwise normal, active sex lives. The act of rape is often a means to satisfy a need to degrade women, rather than sexual release. It is not about gratification.
• Women are not raped because of how they dress or act. Even females who are infants or 90 years old are raped.
• Most rapes are planned in advance.
• In 65 percent of rapes, the perpetrator is someone the victim knows.
• In the event of rape, evidence should be preserved, (Victims shouldn’t bathe or shower.) and medical attention should be sought. Someone should be with the victim as she waits for the doctor to see her.

To prevent abuse of your child, teach her the proper names for body parts and the difference between appropriate and inappropriate touches. Tell your daughter to always trust her instincts and, whenever possible, avoid uncomfortable and potentially dangerous situations. Teach your child how to say no and stick with her answer.

Emotional trauma resulting from rape can be severe and long lasting. An immediate, continual, safe environment is important for the victim. Resuming their normal life is an important step in the recovery of rape victims. Unwanted attention from the rapist’s friends and family can halt the victim’s recovery progress. Many towns have a rape crisis center where victims can obtain medical exams, counseling for themselves and their family, and assistance with the police and legal system. Alternately, you can call a 24-hour hotline like 1-800-656-HOPE (RAINN) or 1-800-999-9999 (Covenant House) or look for a rape crisis center in a nearby town or the closest city.

• Sexual violence is associated with a host of short- and long-term problems, including physical injury and illness, psychological symptoms, economic costs, and death.
• Sexual violence victims exhibit a variety of psychological symptoms that are similar to those of victims of other types of trauma, such as war and natural disaster.
• Victims often distrust others and replay the assault in their minds, and they are at increased risk of future victimization.
• A number of long-lasting symptoms and illnesses have been associated with sexual victimization including chronic pelvic pain; premenstrual syndrome; gastrointestinal disorders; and a variety of chronic pain disorders, including headache, back pain, and facial pain.
• It’s important for friends and family to listen to and be patient with the victim as she heals.
• Reiterate to the victim that she is not at fault.
• Give the victim as much time as she needs to cope with and overcome the trauma she experienced.
• Consider enrolling your daughter in a self-defense class.
• Be supportive of the victim’s decision, whether she chooses to or not to prosecute.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
If You Are Raped
Rape, Abuse & Incest National Hotline (RAINN)
Rape Treatment Center, Santa Monica UCLA
The Sacramento Bee