Help them to take their power back!

The 15 year old girl waited for her friend to allow her to sit down. She stared in disbelief as her friend refused to make room for her to sit down. The result was the same as she tried to sit down by three of her other friends. Finally, she found an empty seat in the back of the church. The youth pastor, who had raped her, sat with her friends in the front of the church. They were laughing and talking like nothing had ever happened. She wanted to cry at their betrayal, but she refused to shed any tears. He may have convinced everyone that he did not commit the crime she had accused him of, but she would not give him the satisfaction of shedding a single tear.

A popular myth exists that rape does not happen that often. The truth is one out of every six adult women have been the victims of a sexual assault. A person is not raped in the throes of passion. The assault is planned in advance. A majority of rapists claim that their victim "asked for it ". No one deserves to be raped! It doesn't matter if they were walking down the street naked. No one has the right to do anything to you without your consent.

Less than one-third of assaults are reported to the police. The rape victim normally feels ashamed and that no one will believe them. The girl in the story above thought that her church would believe her, but they didn't. The result is that many victims suffer alone and in silence.

A second popular myth about rape is that the victim would be hysterical. A person does not know how they would react to being raped. The body has many different ways of dealing with trauma. It is a type of "self protection" mechanism. The victim can remain calm, hysterical, withdrawn, angry, or even in denial that it even happened. There is no "right way" to react.

The way that we can help those unfortunate victims of rape is to stop believing the myths. The most precious thing that we could give them is belief. Belief alone would be the most cherished thing you could give. Don't be afraid to walk beside them as they work through dealing with the aftermath. The walk will not be easy, but the reward is helping them take their life back. The result will be that the one who committed this heinous crime will not win. Rape is a "power trip". You will take away the power from the rapist . Don't let them win!

Learn more about this author, Angelica Raene.
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