The Many Myths of Rape and the Effects on Victims ©1999

The following editorial is by Bonita Repp,
a Women's Coalition of St. Croix Advocate

We have all read about the extremely high incidence of rape being committed in our community. These crimes are a highly traumatic, personal violation of the victim and the victim experiences a wide gamut of fear, anger, guilt and shame.

          Because of the societal stigma, the painful hospital exam, the humiliating legal procedures, which include hours and hours of telling and retelling, living and reliving the rape, the personal attacks on an adult victim’s character in the courtroom (and recently the in the newspapers) it is estimated that as high as 90% of rapes go unreported.

          There tend to be myths about rape which people believe to be fact, particularly in cases where the victim knows the perpetrator(s). Society has created these myths in order to feel safe. “If I don’t wear this, if I don’t do that, if I don’t go there, I will not be raped.” The fact is that ANYONE can be sexually assaulted.

          Victims range in age from infants to people in their nineties. Victims are male or female from every racial, ethnic, religious, economic and social background.

          Victims are attacked in their homes, working in offices or stores, walking to or from their cars, waiting for or exiting buses, out on dates, hanging out with trusted friends, walking to or from school, ANY situation where a predator can take advantage.

          Statistics show that 84% of all sexual assaults are committed by an acquaintance of the victim, 57% of all sexual assaults occur during a date, and 43% of all rapes involve two or more perpetrators.

          Even though rape is the most under-reported crime due to all the fear, pain and humiliation the victim suffers, first at the hands of the rapist, then at the hands of the justice system, many people believe that women frequently “cry rape.” The FBI reports that false accusations account for only 2% of ALL reported sexual assaults, which is no higher than false reports for any other crime.

          People also seem to believe strongly that without some cooperation from the victim, there can be no rape. The fact is that rapists are willing to use all the force necessary to accomplish penetration. Many victims do not resist because they fear for their lives. Submission to save your life or avoid bodily harm is not the same as cooperation.

          Afterwards victims are often most disturbed by the terror they experienced and re-experience at being completely vulnerable. They know that during the rape, the rapist had the power to do anything to them, including take their lives. And there are no guarantees. Some women have been brutalized even though they submitted. There are no rules on how to survive a sexual assault.

          Some people believe that rape results from an uncontrollable sexual urge, that men rape impulsively and out of biological need. Rape is a criminal act of violence using sex as a weapon. Men rape to express hostility and to dominate. They rape because it allows them to express anger and to feel powerful by controlling another person.

          Studies show that most rapes - including acquaintance rape - are planned hours or even days in advance. Additionally, most convicted rapists are married or have available sex partners, which supports rape being a learned, planned behavior that does not arise from impulsive biological need.

          Many people, men in particular, do not understand the dynamics of rape. If you have any doubt, just ask a few men when was the last time they had fears of being raped and how they would feel if they were raped. Most immediately think of a woman seducing them against their will, and the depth of violation known to rape victims does not even enter their minds. This is because rape is almost exclusively a male crime.

          It is the male who penetrates, who violates by thrusting part of his body INTO the woman’s, man’s or child’s body. The only way a female can perform the act of rape is to penetrate with an object.

          Rape is the act of someone penetrating your person without your consent. This act and other acts of sexual abuse and sexual assault have devastating, long-term emotional, psychological and, in the case of children, developmental consequences to the victims. That is why it is so important for victims to be heard and believed and supported, through the ordeal of the legal process, if they choose to report, and during the long recovery process so that they are able to reclaim their lives.

          No one asks to be raped, but it is easy to understand why a victim might choose not to report a rape. The medical exam is painful and the legal process forces the victim to visit and revisit the rape. Then, especially in cases where the victim knows the perpetrator, there is always a fear with regards to the victim’s safety and the victim can count on being degraded and humiliated in court by the defense attorney. Does this sound like something you would choose to experience?

          Why is it that we as a society question the validity of violent crimes committed against women and children? The victims of other criminal acts are not scrutinized and placed on trial right along with the defendants, or just totally ignored by the community and the justice system.

          Perhaps if we as a society were to take the stigma away from the victims and place the blame and responsibility soundly on the perpetrators, more victims would feel safe to come forward and eventually we would have fewer crimes of this nature. It is our own complacence which allows these predators to roam freely among us, doing as they please, because it is so much easier for us to hide in the myths and blame the victims.

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