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Monday 4 July 2011

Can We Break The Taboo?

Rape and sexual assault of any form are not topics that are comfortably talked about, due to a variety of reasons, but are the reasons justifiable, or should we just be honest with ourselves and bring this topic well and truly into the frontline of discussion?

Since Dominique Strauss-Kahn was arrested on suspicion of rape on 13th May 2011, the topic of rape was once again in the public arena, yet as the case has developed, media coverage of the event turned from focusing on the potential wrong doings of the ex-IMF chief to covering the life and times of the 32-year-old Guinean immigrant claiming that she knew convicted criminals and that her story of events regarding the alleged rape were not potentially viable in court.

Since being released from house arrest, another woman, Tristane Banon, has come forward claiming that she has also been a victim of rape by Strauss-Kahn in 2002.

It is not possible for someone outside of the situation, without verifiable facts to make judgements or decide if someone is innocent or guilty, nor is it their place to do so, yet, unfortunately, figures suggest that the general public in the UK believe otherwise as “nearly a third of people (30%) say a woman was partially or totally responsible for being raped if she was drunk” according to a Fawcett survey.

Rape and sexual assault are events in individuals lives that should be treated with great sensitivity and understanding, free from judgement and bias, and since a high proportion of rape and sexual assault go unreported it is difficult to ascertain just how many people are victims of these crimes, but latest figures suggest that at least 47000 women per year are victims of rape alone, and as these figures do not include male victims, nor unreported cases. The closest estimate to how many men are affected by rape or sexual assault by ManKind is that 3 in 20 men are sufferers of some form. This is a staggering statistic yet, again, it is impossible to know how truly accurate this is as so many rape and sexual abuse crimes go unreported.

The victims of rape are often assumed to be female, and their attackers’ male, yet there are cases of female victims with female attackers, and male victims with female or male attackers. There are no rules of conduct during this vicious crime, and victims can be of all ages, races, gender and sexual orientation, yet stereotypes mean that in society a young woman is seen to be the victim, with a man the attacker. This stereotype is often blamed as to why men find it difficult to come forward regarding the attack, as they fear they may not be believed, or that people will dismiss the event as “men can’t be raped”.

The impact of rape and sexual assault on any individual vary, and each victim should be treated as an individual, not as a statistic, yet less than ¼ of all local authorities in the UK have any sexual assault or rape centers for individuals to access, and so many victims access the internet to gain support. Detailed at the end of this article are links to some of the specialist resource websites available for any victim or family/friend of a victim.

The crimes that Dominique Strauss-Kahn has been accused of have provided the public and the media the another opportunity to discuss rape and sexual assault once again, and although this is not the first time, and is unlikely to be, the last time the topic is in the public arena, perhaps this time we can use it to discuss this taboo subject properly and encourage victims to come out and confront their attackers, or to get support from family, friends and the Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs) for victims of rape.

Useful links:
http://www.rapecrisis.org.uk/
http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Sexualhealth/Pages/Sexualassault.aspx
http://www.rapehelp.com/
http://www.mankindcounselling.org.uk/

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