Rape

Survivors need support, but often, when they reach out, they are met with responses that only cause further trauma. The impact of these responses is immense.

[CN: emotional abuse and gaslighting, description of sexual assault.] As a three-time survivor of intimate partner violence, I hate what he did to me, but I don't hate the person with whom I fell in love — not even a little bit. My love for him will always exist.

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, but for those whose lives dramatically changed when they entered the realm of rape survivor, there is no 30-day expiration date.
This is made abundantly clear by Annie E. Clark and Andrea Pino, the co-founders of End Rape on Campus (EROC). They also have edited the book, “We Believe You: Survivors of Campus Sexual Assault Speak Out.”

A judge in Oklahoma dismissed a case involving sexual assault of a drunk 16 year old girl. Allegedly, the girl was so intoxicated that she had to be carried to the boy’s car and witnesses say she was in and out of consciousness in the car. She was later brought to a family member’s home, still unconscious. The family member had her taken to the hospital where her blood alcohol level was tested at .34 and DNA from the boy was found around her mouth and on the back of her leg.

Not every victim speaks out, and few actually report the crime to the authorities. If a friend happens to trust you with this information, it’s your duty as a human being to be there for them in every way possible.

The more he pressured and guilted me, the more distant I felt from him, and the less I felt like becoming sexually aroused was even a faint possibility.

The first time I felt like I had lost control of my body was over six years ago, when I found out I was pregnant. Biology and time and every facet of my human existence seemed to be working against me. I was afraid and ashamed, because I could have been smarter and more accurate with my birth control and I wasn’t too young or too dumb. I knew better. But, thankfully, there was something I could do about it.

April is Sexual Assault Awareness month. Unfortunately, you probably know someone who has been sexually assaulted. 1 out of 6 American women are survivors of attempted or completed rape. It’s not just women: 1 out of 33 men are survivors as well.