Effects of Rape
Physical Effects
Physical injuries such as gynecologic, rectal or internal bleeding may result from rape. Victims may also experience chronic pelvic pain, frequent headaches, back pain, gastrointestinal disorders, and future gynecological and pregnancy complications. Victims also run the risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections or HIV.
Psychological Effects
Women who have been raped or are victims of attempted rape have manifest higher levels of suicidal thoughts, attempted suicide, and “nervous breakdowns” compared to victims of other types of criminal assault. Victims of acquaintance rape, in particular, suffer from heightened feelings of self-blame and betrayal, which further impede their recovery. Victims may experience flashbacks, panic attacks, sleep problems, memory problems, and develop eating disorders, PSTD, which is post-traumatic stress disorder, and OCD, known as obsessive-compulsive disorder. When examining the long-term effects of rape, it was found that 32% of rape victims met the criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following the incident; furthermore, at a year follow-up, 12% of those women still exhibited symptoms of PTSD.
Financial Effects
Researchers have estimated that about 25% of rape victims are physically injured seriously enough to require medical attention. The average cost of the medical care per rape victim is $516, of which the victim herself pays more than one-fourth of the cost. This cost does not include annual incidents of stranger rape. Approximately 33% of victims of rape by an intimate partner speak with a psychologist, psychiatrist, or other mental health professional following a rape. Rape victims average 12.4 visits to a mental health professional at an average cost of $78.86 per visit or a total cost of $978. The victim herself pays more than one-third of the cost. Approximately one-fifth (64,446) of victims of rape by an intimate partner lose time from paid work as a result of the assaults. The mean daily earnings lost are $69 or a total (for all victims) of $4,446,774 per day.
Sociological Effects
Rape is a social harm directly touching a number of women every year and in many ways, impacts nearly all women. It is a social problem that effects all of society. Power and control issues seem to play a critical role in the crime of rape. Men often have a tendency to misperceive women's behavior as being seductive. Traditional men have been taught to push for sex, to be aggressive, and that no means yes and that women really want it but they have to be pushed. Power issues also play a role in dating relationships. One reason date rape may be so prevalent among college students is because of the culture’s dating practices in which men are given the more powerful position in relation to women. Women were taught to hold onto their sexuality resource to attract and later obtain commitment from a man, while men were taught to seek sexual gratification since their resource is status and economics. Overall, this is about the power struggle between men and women.
In order to decrease the rape of women, societal attitudes that glorify aggression, including sexual aggression toward women, need to be changed. This can only be done by examining and questioning the cultural attitudes and beliefs that underlie the sexual assault of women by men. We need to change our attitudes toward the subject and reach out to other people through word of mouth, advocacy, and research so we can be able to change the false assumptions of people in society and allow the issue of rape to be taken more seriously. This has become a social problem because it has effect hundreds of women every day, every hour, and every minute. It is time to stop the perpetrators, speak out about it, and give women the right and pleasure to live each day without being worried about being a victim of society.
Physical injuries such as gynecologic, rectal or internal bleeding may result from rape. Victims may also experience chronic pelvic pain, frequent headaches, back pain, gastrointestinal disorders, and future gynecological and pregnancy complications. Victims also run the risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections or HIV.
Psychological Effects
Women who have been raped or are victims of attempted rape have manifest higher levels of suicidal thoughts, attempted suicide, and “nervous breakdowns” compared to victims of other types of criminal assault. Victims of acquaintance rape, in particular, suffer from heightened feelings of self-blame and betrayal, which further impede their recovery. Victims may experience flashbacks, panic attacks, sleep problems, memory problems, and develop eating disorders, PSTD, which is post-traumatic stress disorder, and OCD, known as obsessive-compulsive disorder. When examining the long-term effects of rape, it was found that 32% of rape victims met the criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following the incident; furthermore, at a year follow-up, 12% of those women still exhibited symptoms of PTSD.
Financial Effects
Researchers have estimated that about 25% of rape victims are physically injured seriously enough to require medical attention. The average cost of the medical care per rape victim is $516, of which the victim herself pays more than one-fourth of the cost. This cost does not include annual incidents of stranger rape. Approximately 33% of victims of rape by an intimate partner speak with a psychologist, psychiatrist, or other mental health professional following a rape. Rape victims average 12.4 visits to a mental health professional at an average cost of $78.86 per visit or a total cost of $978. The victim herself pays more than one-third of the cost. Approximately one-fifth (64,446) of victims of rape by an intimate partner lose time from paid work as a result of the assaults. The mean daily earnings lost are $69 or a total (for all victims) of $4,446,774 per day.
Sociological Effects
Rape is a social harm directly touching a number of women every year and in many ways, impacts nearly all women. It is a social problem that effects all of society. Power and control issues seem to play a critical role in the crime of rape. Men often have a tendency to misperceive women's behavior as being seductive. Traditional men have been taught to push for sex, to be aggressive, and that no means yes and that women really want it but they have to be pushed. Power issues also play a role in dating relationships. One reason date rape may be so prevalent among college students is because of the culture’s dating practices in which men are given the more powerful position in relation to women. Women were taught to hold onto their sexuality resource to attract and later obtain commitment from a man, while men were taught to seek sexual gratification since their resource is status and economics. Overall, this is about the power struggle between men and women.
In order to decrease the rape of women, societal attitudes that glorify aggression, including sexual aggression toward women, need to be changed. This can only be done by examining and questioning the cultural attitudes and beliefs that underlie the sexual assault of women by men. We need to change our attitudes toward the subject and reach out to other people through word of mouth, advocacy, and research so we can be able to change the false assumptions of people in society and allow the issue of rape to be taken more seriously. This has become a social problem because it has effect hundreds of women every day, every hour, and every minute. It is time to stop the perpetrators, speak out about it, and give women the right and pleasure to live each day without being worried about being a victim of society.
