Sexual assault: an overview of its effect on society

In a typical household, taking out the trash or putting away the dishes are regular chores that children do. For Christine Lopez, Bobbie Becerra, Debra Collins, and Samantha Prasad, a chore that was ingrained in the memories of their childhood was sexual abuse.  All of these survivors dealt with abuse from a father or authoritative figure in their life at an extremely young age.  Lopez w...

While it is beneficial to have influential guidance over your child’s life, many survivors feel that some decisions made by parents do more harm than good in regards to sex education and discussing uncomfortable topics such as sexual assault and harassment.  Madeleine* said, “I grew up very sheltered….my mom and dad never talked to me about sexual assault before. I don’t think at my privat...

Of the nine survivors who were interviewed, 88% developed PTSD, anxiety, depression, or suicidal thoughts after being sexually assaulted or raped. In a presentation made by Rebecca Campbell, a professor of psychology with a Ph.D. at Michigan State University, she referenced a neurological study of the effects of sexual assault. During this presentation, Campbell explains how traumatic experien...

Recovery looks different for every survivor, some trying to get as far away as possible from everything related to their assault, and some wanting to dive right into therapy and explore other ways to move past what happened to them.  Some survivors began recovery in preexisting places of comfort such as church.  “I had a lot of shame around going back to church ... That’s why I avoided it f...

Domination is a common interest regarding sex and is quite common in heterosexual males. In a study of 114 undergraduate men in an informative report called “I Never Called It Rape,” 91.3% of the men agreed that they like to dominate a woman and 86.1% agreed that they enjoy the conquest part of sex. While this is a normal and healthy part of sexual culture, what is not normal nor healthy is the inability to take no for an answer.  ...

Imagine you and your friend were at a party last night and you found your friend crying hysterically saying that she was raped. You are now in the emergency room still in the clothes that you were wearing and your friend is telling the police officer what happened. The police officer leaves the room. The door is ajar and he says to his colleague, “Well, look at what she’s wearing.” What do you...