Let not others victimize you again

The term Rape has been mentioned in the histories and legal codes of ancient Babylonia, Hebrew, Greece and Roma and thus it could be termed as global phenomena since time immemorial  Though it is universal, the victim of this brutal crime is always alone. She becomes lonely just after the moment she reveals that she is "the abused”. Post rape, the woman will never have a good life and the cruel physical abuse will pave the way for the cruelest psychological abuse. The social norms along with the parents and relatives will never allow her to raise voice against this crime that she had to face for no reason. When she demands for it, the answers will be really odd like, "It's all in your head." "You're out of your mind." "You're crazy!".

The physical injury to the victim may be severe and the psychological consequences can range both immediate and lifelong ramifications. Within a short period of time, she will forget that how beautiful and intelligent she used to be. She will even find it difficult to understand whether she is a human being or not: for the way of abuse she had to face. She will become insecure in a moment and will spend most of her time to find out the exact reason for this crime.  . Victims of sexual assault by an acquaintance may suffer more severe psychological consequences than others. The emotional impact imposed on the victim is difficult to identify, measure, and describe due to the complexity and uniqueness of each victim's perception, circumstance, and reaction to the incident.

Some of the common symptoms reported by victims of rape include fear, anxiety, disbelief, shock, numbness, confusion, indecision, apathy and even hysteria. Disturbed sleep is another common aftermath associated with victims of sexual assault. Sleep disturbances such as nightmares, flashbacks, intrusive thoughts and insomnia may follow them throughout their life. Apart from this the most crucial problem associated with a rape is social withdrawal. The incident and subsequent social impact may lead her to situations such as sexual dysfunction, or suicide.  Rape not only causes great physical, psychological and social harm to the victim but also it changes the victim's perception about the world forever.

Acquaintance rape is distinguished as rape that involves persons like relatives, neighbors, or friends. Such victims may suffer more severe symptoms and may have longer-term negative consequences associated with the sexual assault than victims of other such crimes. According to Moises Propsero, "Sex-symmetric effects of coercive behaviors on mental health?: Not exactly," published in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence. Furthermore, explains Prospero and suggest that the emotional abuse from coercion may be a stronger factor relating to the victim's mental health problems or psychological consequences. Coercive power refers to the ability or perceived ability to punish the victim for not conforming to the offender's attempted influence. Rape involving coercion further impacts the victim's ability to recover from the victimization associated with the trauma (source: Ezine article)

 As the act of rape is not expected, usually the woman may not be psychologically prepared to expose the seriousness or depravity of the event, yet she has to  be exposed to this new mental situation suddenly. The victim may be too ashamed, embarrassed, or humiliated to cope with the psychological aftermath of the incident. Suppressing the memory of the assault is a safer psychological response. Denial even to the memory of this event becomes an alternative coping mechanism the victim usually relies on to avoid confronting the emotional impact associated with the assault. Fear and anxiety are the most predominant symptoms victims experience during and following rape, explains Lundberg-Love and Marimon. Victims also may experience feelings of disbelief, fear, shock, numbness, confusion, indecision, apathy or hysteria. Sleep disturbances and depression also are common symptoms suffered by rape victims. Victims who were assaulted in their bed frequently suffer from insomnia, continues Lundberg-Love and Marimon. (source: Ezine article)

The types of sleep disturbances a victim may experience include dreams, nightmares, flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, and insomnia. Being a woman with a weaker body in compared to the criminal, she cannot even think of a revenge and this will add more problems to the situation. Sexual dysfunction is another major consequence of rape. A woman's feelings about sexual relations can be negatively affected causing some victims of sexual assault to react with a sense of anger or repulsion which leads to sex avoidance. Other women react oppositely and engage in sex more frequently because they feel "devalued by the assault and believe that there is nothing left for them to protect," continues Lundberg-Love and Marimon. Still others may participate in sexual relations but possibly with a reduced sense of enjoyment or satisfaction. In addition, "extreme guilt may accompany the aftermath of rape because the victim perceives that he or she was ineffective in handling the assault," continues Lundberg-Love and Marimon.

The magnitude and severity of the personal assault during rape does not limit to one’s body as it directly affects one's sense of pride, dignity, and feelings of self-worth. Rapists steal not only the chastity of the woman, but also her soul and dignity when they intrude upon her personality that dictates and defines her perception of what is the world. The gravity of the offense determines the length of the road to recovery and the time necessary to achieve psychological restoration. Usually rape victims stay in the victim mindset, which keeps them weak, vulnerable and attractive to victimizers and attackers. Survive the event and not a victim and help those who need help. Give yourself a reality check. Understand the survivor mindset is strong and provides several options whereas the victim mindset is weak and vulnerable. Deep in your soul, you know who's really crazy. You don’t need to be embarrassed. When the thief steals something from you, he is the convict and not you. The society had made a feeling in your mind that you can never be safe alone, but Gut feelings will always save your life if you trust and follow them. A survivor of cancer does not have even a single growth of cancer in his body when he was a cancer victim. Similarly consider yourself as a survivor. You are not a victim anymore; you are a survivor and let not others to victimize you again.