Rape

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New Bill Forces Rape Victims To Ask Permission For Abortion

The new Arkansas Bill H.B. 1566 requires women to get permission from the biological father before getting an abortion. This includes incidents of rape. Here's why this is all kinds of dangerous.

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" The future of ending rape culture is intersectional and inclusive. There’s no other way forward."

We Need To Remember Disability When We Talk About Sexual Assault

In the aftermath of my rape, I became an activist for ending rape culture. And I quickly found that even in feminist circles, disability was often left out of the conversation completely.

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Yes, women do face more dangers than men when we travel. But we also gain more strength from each journey into the unknown.

What It's Really Like To Travel As A Rape Survivor

I rarely have dreams about being raped anymore, that is until I announced on Facebook that I was going to India. Immediately, my inbox and my phone filled with stories about rape in India.

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"Prior to this new law, victims had 10 years to bring rape charges against their assailants. In the case of sexual assault against a child, the statute of limitations was the child’s 40th birthday."

California To End Statute Of Limitations On Sexual Assault Cases

This means that if you are sexually assaulted in California after this law takes effect in January 2017, you have all the time you need to gather your strength to press charges.

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"It hurts me to know that what I experienced was rape, that I spent eight years denying it and blaming myself." Image: Thinkstock

Being Raped Forced Me To Admit That I Myself Had Been Sexually Coercive

It took me a long time to understand consent. I knew that forcing sex on someone was rape. I knew that one in five women would be raped in their lifetime. I knew that the majority of rape victims knew their attacker. But beyond that, my understanding got cloudy.

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Our braveness doesn’t make us valuable. Image: Christopher Campbell/Unsplash.

I'm A Rape Survivor — But Please Don't Call Me Brave

My story isn’t meant to hold a mirror to society and say, “You, too, can be strong like me.” It’s meant to hold a mirror to society and say, “You, too, are complicit in rape culture. Let’s work on that.”

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I didn’t even realize the power I had given to your legacy until yesterday, when I read the letter of Brock Turner’s victim... Image: Joe Gardner/Unsplash.

I'm 35 And Today Is The Day I Realized I Was Raped

For more than 20 years, I believed I was a slut. A shameful, vile, one-time slut, but a slut all the same. It was you, Mr White Canterbury shorts, that led me to believe this. But, since reading the letter from Brock Turner’s victim, I realized, what you did, Mr White Canterbury Shorts, was in fact rape.

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Over the years... I’ve realized that my father’s sentiments echo those of the judge, the father, and the rapist. Image: Thinkstock.

The Stanford Rape Case, My Father, And Collective Forgiveness

Much has already been said about the way the Stanford swimmer's privilege has insulated him from consequence, about the ever-pervasive victim blaming in public discourse, and about the inadequacy of the criminal justice system. But in so many of these conversations, in our rage against the rape culture machine, we forget the survivors — the most important people in the fight against sexual violence.

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