Effects and aftermath of rape

This article deals primarily with the female victims of male-on-female rape, and until such time as research into other variants added e.g. male-on-male, female-on-female, female-on-male. For male-on-female rape: The effects and aftermath of rape can include both physical trauma and psychological trauma. However, physical force is not necessarily used in rape, and physical injuries are not always a consequence. Deaths associated with rape are known to occur, though the prevalence of fatalities varies considerably across the world. For rape victims the more common consequences of sexual violence are those related to reproductive health, mental health, and social wellbeing.

Common consequences experienced by rape survivors include:

Research on women in shelters has shown that women who experience both sexual and physical abuse from intimate partners are significantly more likely to have had sexually transmitted diseases.

Self-blame is among the most common of both short- and long-term effects and functions as an avoidance coping skill that inhibits the healing process and can often be remedied by a cognitive therapy technique known as cognitive restructuring.

There are two main types of self-blame: behavioral self-blame (undeserved blame based on actions) and characterological self-blame (undeserved blame based on character). Survivors who experience behavioral self-blame feel that they should have done something differently, and therefore feel at fault. Survivors who experience characterological self-blame feel there is something inherently wrong with them which has caused them to deserve to be assaulted.

A girl or woman who has been raped may seek consolation from people among her personal support system. However, such people are not always the best to provide this support; in an effort to shield themselves from believing that such a thing could happen to a loved one, they may speculate as to why the event occurred and may decide that – though not deserving to be raped – the person seeking support had put herself in a bad situation, which does not help recovery. The survivor will often already internally blame themselves, especially because the violation of boundaries, broken trust, and the feeling of personal danger occurs with rape. If the support system they look to for support is a partner or spouse, some may be unwilling to accept reality and they may leave or blame the survivor. In that situation, it is even more important to be able to find support in others.

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Wikipedia