Sexual Assault Victims

     There are two sides to a rape, the rapist and the victim. The victim is most of the time a woman but men are raped as well. It is a common myth that there is a type of woman that is more likely to be raped. This is indeed a myth, most of the time rape is a crime of opportunity, the victim is not chosen because of her looks or behavior, but because she is there (Benedict 2). The average rape victim is 18-39 years old and female, the average rapist is 25 years old and male. The effect of rape on a woman is an enormous one. The woman will come away from a rape with both physical and psychological damage. Eventually the physical wounds will heal, the psychological wounds will take quite some time before or if they ever heal (Grady 4). A sexual assault robs the woman of a sense of control; a feeling of loss of freedom is common among rape victims. To put her life in order she must regain this sense of control. Almost all rape victims suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder (Benedict 2). The first symptom is the reliving or re-experiencing of the

Start blaming the system, not the victim. Sexual assault is a crime that is very common, yet the punishment perpetrators receive is not as harsh as it needs to be to reduce the occurrence of these crimes. Laws concerning sexual crimes have been edited over decades to be stricter however, sex offenders typically receive little or no punishment. Sexual Assault is defined as any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient (“Sexual Assault”). Victims of sexual assault are often blamed as the reason for the crime being committed while the blame is taken away from the offender. Harsher punishment must be enacted on sex offenders because the victims suffer conflict from the crime throughout their

others, also you think about the tragedy every night and day. From personal experience, I have

Within society, there is an engrained belief of what makes a person a legitimate victim and often their status as a ‘victim’ is questioned. This is especially true if the victim does not fit the typical stereotype of who is considered to be a legitimate victim. This is most widely illustrated in cases involving male victims of sexual assault.

The symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder vary. They can include an increased level of anxiety, which can result in difficulty sleeping, concentrating, and an exaggerated response to noise. PTSD can affect a woman who has experienced sexual assault ability to remember past events, in particular events associated with her assault. (2) PTSD can cause feelings of detachment and numbness, as well as a desire to avoid anything that the victim might associate with her assault. While doctors have been able to identify the symptoms in many victims of sexual assault the exact cause of the disorder is still questioned. Is the disorder the body's response to trauma? If so what relationship exists between the symptoms associated with PTSD as trauma? A strong correlation has been found between sufferers of PTSD and poor health. (3) PTSD can lead to depression and sickness. PTSD if not treated can also indirectly cause accidents that can affect a victim's health. These accidents can be the result high levels of anxiety, of a lack of ability to focus, and a lack of ability to respond.

After being sexually assaulted people will handle it all different ways. It can change their mental health or even the way they carry themselves physically. “Having a history of sexual assault is related to perceiving ones health as poor or fair, rather than good or excellent (see Golding, Cooper, & George, 1997). In one study involving seven general population surveys (i.e., surveys in which people were randomly selected to represent those living in a particular region or in the entire country), the odds of

Sex-based crimes can affect the victim both physically and mentally. According to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, gastrointestinal disorders, chronic pain, gynecological complications, sexually transmitted infections, pregnancy, and cervical cancer are among a few of the long-term consequences that can result from sexual violence. The psychological effects of sexual violence on young adults have the potential to be just as damaging or even more harmful than the physical effects. In a study of how adolescents reacted to rape, it was found that survivors of sexual assaults were more likely to experience depression, attempt suicide, and fall into unhealthy eating patterns as a result of eating disorders (Kaufman). Dr. Kaufman, a medical doctor that sits on the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Committee on Adolescence, discussed how long term the effects of sexual violence can be on young adults. She noted that for days and weeks after an attack, the victim might experience rape trauma syndrome. Experiencing the syndrome would cause survivors to feel “disbelief, anxiety, fear, emotion liability, and guilt” in regards to the attack. Kaufman goes on to describe the process that follows the initial stages of reacting to the trauma,

By someone they know. Husbands, former partners, and even friends. Victims of sexual assault survivors often suffer from a wide range of physical and mental health problems such as PTSD, Depression, Chronic pain, anxiety and also eating disorders. They are more

Sexual violence can cause a survivor to have psychological, emotional, and physical effects. These effects aren't easy to cope with or

I was absolutely mortified by the administrators response to victims of sexual assault. I just couldn’t believe that they would rather uphold the prestige of a college campus than to do right by a victim of sexual assault. I honestly thought that administrators would be more supporting, it was really difficult to see how administrators are supposed to guide us in the right path but they spoke down to all the women that were rape survivors, it truly disgusted me. The structural issues that influenced the reactions survivors received were the issues from the administrators and even police officers, basically every institution where rape survivors are supposed to be able to turn to turned out to be a big let down to them. It’s terrible because sexual assault survivors don’t feel comfortable to turn to their own parents so they turn to powerful institutions like police officers and administrators but it was just a let down.

Rape can also have both physical and psychological effects on the victim. The physical effect of rape includes the transmission of STDs, pregnancy and suicidal tendency as stated in the article, What Are the Physical and Psychological Effects of Sexual Assault and Rape?, written by Roxanne Dryden-Edwards and edited by Melissa Conrad Stöppler. The same article also states the psychological effects of rape, which include, the developmental of nightmares, sleep disorders, loss of apatite, posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, substance abuse

Throughout the article, the author is explaining how to help a family member that has been sexually assaulted. The author also talks about how family members can help out the sexual assault victims recover over time. Throughout the article, the author discusses that family members shouldn’t run away from a problem that is affecting a sexually assaulted victim. Most family members ignore and keep silent about what happened to someone close to them, but they should confront and help out the victim. The author believes that the family members should support the victims in many ways and gives advice on ways they can help out. This article would be a useful resource to use in my essay because I will be able to specifically explain how family members

Groups serve not only important to get an individual’s perspective on a situation, but they are equally important to allow individuals to see that they are not alone. Many people feel that they cannot connect with others because of their current problems, and it can be encouraging to hear others have similar circumstances. Unfortunately, at times, individuals can find it difficult to connect because of a fear of rejection and intolerance towards certain populations and is often the case for male rape survivors. While doing research on a particular group, I found limited research for males who are survivors of rape. Despite the current advance in multicultural counseling males who are survivors of rape, the population remains silent and

Imagine you are forced to do something sexual you don't wanna do. After forced to do something, would you speak up? 65% of rape victims do not speak up due the way they are treated after rape.

The rape survivors should be given justice that they are longing for because the rape survivors suffered from physical and emotional trauma which eventually leads to depression and even death. This is due to the experience that are terrifying for them and the effect from the raping incident is still haunting them, even in their dreams. According to Julie Donelon, president and CEO of the Metropolitan Organisation Assault (MOCSA), rape investigations can be very long and they can add additional trauma to the victim, and it can be a very frustrating process for the rape survivors. Moreover, some of the rapist even threaten the rape survivors, by killing them, if they made a report to the police. Now, this can lead to fatal for the rape survivors