One out of six females are victims of rape. No one thinks about that number. College women are three times more at risk to being raped. One of your friends or family members could have been raped; they wouldn’t tell you, or even their parents out of pure fear. They would silently deal with it on their own. They won’t go talk to a therapist out of fear that it will automatically be reported to the police.
Under 50 percent of rape victims report being raped to the police. Why is this? Reliving it over and over again is more difficult than keeping it to themselves. When someone is raped on a college campus, they tend to be even more afraid to tell officials.
Why is it always assumed it is the victim’s fault? Whether they were drunk, said no too quietly, didn’t make noise or didn’t try to get away. It is never the victim’s fault. When rape occurs, that person’s life is changed forever.
People who haven’t been raped tell the victim to “build a bridge and get over it.” How is someone supposed to do that if they are constantly on their toes as to whether they are going to see their rapist somewhere?
Victims slip into a depression and have constant anxiety. Some even become suicidal. They tend to push themselves away from everyone. Suddenly they stop partying at college, they barely leave their room, they stop eating and their grades drop. Still, they don’t tell anyone. They make up excuses for their actions. They keep it to themselves for as long as possible because they’re terrified that they are going to be told that it’s their fault, not the rapist's. No one knows how it feels until it happens to him or her too. They do not understand why people who were raped cannot just “build a bridge and get over it.”
Rape isn’t wished on anyone; it’s a constant everyday struggle for the rest of your life. People have flashbacks of what happened anywhere they are. When it happens, the tendency to shut down and automatically distance from everyone usually occurs. For the rest of their life, being raped will affect them. It will be acknowledged in classes throughout high school and college. It will affect all friendships and relationships because of the constant fear that a person will automatically leave them once they find out. It affects their relationship with their family members. Rape is never the victim’s fault. No one asks to be raped. No one asks to go through that kind of emotional pain for the rest of his or her lives.
