by Debora Spadafora

Created on: May 01, 2009

No one can be or should ever be considered irresponsible if they were raped. Rape is a violation against another human being. It is defined as sexual intercourse without consent. It's a cruel face that wears many masks such as drug rape, date rape and partner rape to name a few. When we speak of rape the subject is generally directed toward women. This should not be so. In many cases, children are also raped at an alarming rate were they irresponsible? Definitely not.

Rape is an outrage and one of the cruelest acts that can be perpetrated against another human being. No one asks to be raped albeit a child, teenager, woman, man or married woman. More often than not, it's an act that keeps on giving. In many rape cases, victims of this abominable crime could resort to suicide, self-injury or suffer severe depression. The saddest part of all is that unfortunately all too often the rapist gets away with it and moves on to another victim.

To best illustrate my point, I will cite two instances that I personally know of:

A young shoeshine boy was going about his daily duties when he was confronted by a man who abducted him, raped him repeatedly, used him for pornographic films and then when he was finished with him, brutally murdered him. This child was only 8 years old. He had his whole life ahead of him and all he wanted was to make a few dollars to help his family out. Did he deserve the fate that was dealt him? Was he irresponsible? God no. Every time I hear of another rape victim my thoughts go back to this little boy and it makes me so very angry.

The other case in point is that of a young lady who dedicated her life to helping others in a third-world country. She volunteered her services to assist these poor people and was violently raped by many members of that country's army. She lived to tell the tale but was never the same after that. Again, was she irresponsible? All she wanted to do was to help others.

The victims of this crime suffer severe trauma and the healing process is a very long and painful journey for them. They need to know first and foremost: IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT, for only then can they begin this healing process.

No one asks to be raped or deserve to be violated in such an inhuman manner. Society needs to change their outlook on victims of rape because only then can we ensure tougher laws to protect people against such a hateful crime. Only then can we force our governments to revisit the law and a more justifiable punishment for all rapists.

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