Title/Author Summary
Rape: How Sexual violence is present in every society. This
women , the form of violence is used multi-functionally
community, and starting as a social strategy to punish women, a
the health sector way of claiming a patriarchal social order, a
respond manner of resolving domestic conflicts, and a
By Jill Astbury behavior to have sexual satisfaction for men.
The definition of rape differs from every
society. Some of the factors that are used to
classify a sexual act as rape are culture,
religious beliefs, law, and other social beliefs.
In a male dominated society, if a woman is
sexually violated, she will be dishonored and
her worth as a human being would be affected.
To clean the stain of being sexually assaulted,
others would force the victim to marry the
perpetrator. These are only a few of the social
responses on rape however; family and social
rejections are still on the top of the list.
Women’s responses to sexual violence involve
different stages. The first 2-3hours after the
sexual attack, 96% of women experience
physical shaking, trembling and shock. Sexually
violated women always feel confused, scared,
and terrified. After this stage, the woman will
feel the symptoms of depression, exhaustion
and restlessness. Post traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD) is also very common response in fact, in
a French study, they found out that 87% of the
victims experience PTSD, 70% have PTSD 3
months later and 65% have PTSD 6 months
later. The long term effects of rape are usually
heightened fear, anger, anxiety, guilt, self
blame, loss of trust, flashbacks and PTSD,
depression, dissociation, phobias, panic
disorder, and obsessive compulsive disorder.
For rape victims who are 16 years old or below,
they experience these psychological effects 3-4
times more than the older victims. Sexual
violence also has physical and behavioral
health consequences. Females who are raped
are more likely to develop risky health behavior
such as smoking, drinking, and substance
misuse. Self harming behaviors such as suicidal
thoughts and actions could also develop.
Moreover, rape victims would have higher
rates of acute and chronic pain syndromes,
cardiac arrhythmia, asthma, hyperventilation,
Argument
Rape is one of the most
commonly committed crimes all
over the world. It is present in
every society. Sexual violence
usually involves a female as its
victim. Males are usually the
ones who commit this crime
maybe because it is a way for
them to show their masculinity
or simply just to satisfy their
sexual needs. Sexual violence
entails numerous consequences
for its victims. Usually, women
feel terrified and traumatized up
to the point that they do not go
to the authorities to report
about their experience. Women
often feel that they are
worthless after the sexual
assault. The fear of being
rejected by their family or
society will always haunt their
minds. That is why a lot of rape
victims are afraid of admitting
that they are violated. This fear
that they experience gives way
to a lot of psychological and
health behavioral outcomes.
Female rape victims will lose
their confidence and will
experience severe depression.
Female rape victims would have
a harder time recovering from
their experience than the male
rape victims. Since most of the
societies have a patriarchal
social order, women would have
a harder time moving on from
the experience. Moreover,
because of the mentality that
women are the weaker sex, it is
but natural for them to feel even
more worthless. The
psychological and social
consequences on rape victims
would affect the females more
than the males. Hence, if the
 nausea and choking sensations. Reproductive female rape victim does not
consequences like sexually transmitted have the support of their family,
infections, unwanted pregnancy, unsafe friends and family, she would
abortion, genital fistulae and pelvic really have a difficult time
inflammatory disease can also affect the accepting the truth about being
victims. Even though rape seems to be sexually violated.
impossible to control, this can be prevented
through various actions by medical and
government institutions. The government
could provide education programs and
rehabilitation programs for victims.
Nevertheless, rape victims would easily recover
from their unfortunate experience if they have
support from their family, friends and
community.

INTRODUCTION:

One of the worse forms of violation upon humans is to force them into an unwanted sexual
engagement. This can be committed by a stranger, an acquaintance, or even a family. The victims,
though has been more evident to women, can be men as well, and of any age.

Regardless of the manner, sexual assault can destroy lives forever. The difference is how the wounded
deals with his or her unpleasant incident. There are those who disregard the familiarity they have about
their predicament, while others continue to ponder and change their views about life itself. In this
paper, we shall illustrate and differentiate the effects of rape on women and men, particularly those
others continue to overlook, and how each victim copes with such experience.

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