Have you ever asked yourself what actually happens during rape? As a society, we tend to gloss over this. We skirt around the finer details and the points which are harder to stomach, and we lessen our own understanding of the issue, as well as the understanding of those in generations to come. I recently attended an extensive talk on the issue of rape, and I’ve decided to share some of the knowledge I gained as a result. NB: One of the things I discovered was that avoiding terminology is regressive and unhelpful, so prepare for some appropriately graphic descriptions.
As a basic clarification,
Under section 1(1) of the Sexual Offenses Act 2003 a defendant, A, is guilty of rape if:
_ A intentionally penetrates the vagina, anus or mouth of B (the complainant) with his penis;
_ B does not consent to the penetration; and,
_ A does not reasonably believe that B consents
This means that rape is a crime committed by men, against women or other men (mostly the former). Sexual offences committed by women are not included in the definition of rape, but carry the same sentencing and are treated in the same way.
What Actually Happens During Rape?
Though every rape experience is different; every victim is different, there are some common factors. Physically, someone is being forced to do something they do not consent to. The body of the victim will sometimes react as if this is the case, making penile penetration in the vagina, anus or mouth painful and difficult. Sometimes, parts of the body will react to being stimulated in a way which seems desirable in consensual sex (i.e. lubrication), which can be incredibly confusing for the victim; it’s essentially seen as a betrayal by the body of the mind. A common response for the whole body is what’s known as “freezing” - fairly self explanatory. The sympathetic nervous system creates an adrenalin rush- telling the body to fight back or run, but this is counteracted by the parasympathetic nervous system, which creates a neuron to calm the nervous system and tells the body to relax. Any extreme case of shock, fear and trauma often results in both of these bodily reactions working in opposition to each other and the victim then being unable to move at all. It is this reaction which often later causes Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in survivors of rape. The body can’t remain in this state for long, though, and another common reaction is to then “flop”. This occurs if and when the “freeze” mechanism fails, and is one way that the body’s survival instinct manifests itself. If the threat to the victim’s safety still exists, or increases, the body is aware that any impact will cause less damage if the muscle tension is lowered and the body is limp. The parasympathetic overwhelms the sympathetic, and the victim flops. The body may experience the “fight or flight” impulse, but the question remains of whether they will do so if the attacker has been violent and/or threatening towards them prior to the assault, or simply whether they believe they are able to escape. A vitally important thing to remember about rape is that it is defined legally as “sex without reasonable belief in consent”. One of most damaging myths surrounding this issue is the idea that no consent equals the victim doing everything within their usual physical power to stop someone from violating them. The responses outlined above illustrate why this would be anything but a normal situation, and why people often are physically incapable of retaliation or escape. Emotionally and mentally, any range of things could be running through someone’s head before, during and after rape. Fear, distress, confusion, guilt and numbness are all common feelings, but shame is one which is often present and incredibly dominant. Shame is often caused by a large combination of factors, for example the way the rapist has spoken to and treated them, their own personal feelings towards sexual assault and, essentially, the attitude of society and the media towards it. The media response and coverage is something I’ll later go into detail about, but the point worth making here is that the depth and pervasiveness of shame as an emotion can be completely overwhelming and inescapable for survivors; not to mention its capacity to hinder recovery.
Rape is Not About Sex (in the way we tend to assume)
In order to really deepen our understanding of rape and rapists we, as a society, need to fully realise this statement. Another of the incredibly entrenched myths about this crime is that it’s caused by an unstoppable, desperate sexual desire. The claim that libido is to blame for rape is completely false. Rapists achieve sexual satisfaction as a result of exercising power and control over their victim’s bodies. This is why, as difficult as it is for us to accept, it doesn’t matter how the victim is dressed, how intoxicated they may be or where they are walking late at night; a rapist plans their attack long before they have sight of the person they choose to rape. This is why we must challenge the attitude of it being women’s responsibility to minimise the risk of an attack by being more conscious and selective of their attire, location, alcohol consumption etc; it’s not simply offensive, it will not work. It does not work. It can not work. This is evident in the fact that the vast majority of survivors were attacked by someone previously known to them- whether that be a past or present partner, a family member or simply a friend or acquaintance. The cause behind our reluctance to accept this fact is obvious: it means accepting that we are powerless. It means knowing that the only way to stop rape is by stopping rapists; by completely re-assessing society’s attitudes towards; sexual violence; victims of sexual violence (male and female); perpetrators of sexual violence; women in general; men in general. Wearing a less revealing outfit seems more achievable, really, doesn’t it? Another example of how rape is about the thrill of dominance and “conquering” lies within the fact that most men who have been raped were attacked by men. Heterosexual men, that is. Heterosexual men raping, usually, heterosexual men. That’s one to wrap your head around. Another issue to give some thought to is the prominence of rape in cultures where women typically wear niqabs or burqas. The idea of men being unstoppably, uncontrollably aroused at the sight of a woman in a short skirt is simply not, in the vast majority of cases, how rape happens. This myth, which applies specifically to male attackers and female victims, is one which is incredibly damaging to men in general- it paints a picture of them as moronic slaves to their sexual impulses which, all jokes aside, just is not correct.
The Legal Definition and its Impact
This is of fundamental importance. Developments have undoubtedly been made during the last decade in terms of rape trials, which are particularly traumatising for the victim. For one thing, the defence is no longer permitted to use the sexual history of the accuser as evidence against them- perhaps because it was realised that the frequency of one’s sexual encounters do not correlate with one’s propensity to lie about said sexual encounters and the absence of their own consent. The Sexual Offences Act referenced at the beginning of this blog repealed almost all of the existing statute law in relation to sexual offences in order to bring it up to date. The process of reporting this kind of offence, though, is still gut wrenchingly difficult. It’s important to bear in mind the deep feelings of violation, distrust, fear and shame which any victim of rape is likely to experience. This makes reporting such a crime a terrifying ordeal, and the invasive medical assessment which is required in order to obtain sufficient evidence is one of many things which are likely to hugely exacerbate the issues faced by the victim. It’s extremely difficult to convince an entire jury beyond reasonable doubt that someone has committed rape, particularly because of the myths and misconceptions about sexual abuse which exist so prominently in our society. There is hope, though, that these can be dispelled. During a recent trial made public due to the sex offender’s footballer status, the crown prosecutor for Wales is quoted as saying “It is a myth that being vulnerable through alcohol consumption means that a victim is somehow responsible for being raped. The law is clear: being vulnerable through drink or drugs does not imply consent”. This is simple a reiteration of the laws surrounding consent, but it is a common belief that if a rape victim is drunk they are, to some extent, responsible for the crime perpetrated against them. If the attacker is under the influence, however, it’s likely to work in their favour because it’s suggested by the defence that they weren’t in control of their actions, and didn’t realise the gravity of them.
However, this is far from an ideal case. It is incredibly difficult for someone to be convicted of rape. Obviously, it requires convincing an entire jury beyond any reasonable doubt that the accused had non-consensual sex with the victim, and obviously, this is the same process as with any other crime- except than that it’s much more difficult to obtain substantial evidence of rape. It’s like to be significantly easier if the victim reports the offence quickly, having taken the necessary precautions (i.e. not washing their clothes, hair or body in order to preserve physical evidence). Bearing in mind how a victim is likely to be feeling after the assault though, it doesn’t take a genius to understand many people’s reluctance to stride up to a police station and undergo an incredibly invasive physical examination. Not to mention the fact that many may not even be aware of the fact that they need to carry out the above mentioned preservation measures and as a result will compromise their evidence. Bearing these things in mind, you can be fairly assured that any trial resulting in a conviction was one which involved an overwhelming amount of evidence against the accused. So, presumably, the victim in this very public case did everything correctly during her allegation, and had a very strong case overall. Whilst there is plenty of public condemnation of Ched Evans, now found guilty of raping a teenager and sentenced to five years jail time, it’s been somewhat compromised by the disgusting treatment of his victim. For the last week, Twitter has been crawling with comments from those who find Mr Evan’s conviction to be entirely unfair. Indeed, how dare this nineteen year old make such an unnecessary fuss over his attack upon her, and “destroy” his promising career by holding him responsible. Many critics of Mr Evans’ victim believe her not simply to be a “drunken slut”, though it is a popular comment, but moreover she is accused of being a “liar” and bizarrely “money-grabbing” or “fame hungry”. It’s worth noting that this woman remained anonymous prior to a teammate of Evans revealing her name within an abusive tweet, which was subsequently shown accidentally by Sky News. There is an overwhelming sentiment which many of these comments share, and that is that if a woman is drunk, she is responsible. Though Nita Dowell’s comment simply echoes the legal stance on rape and consent, this seems to be one which few are supportive of. Surely the idea that a woman surrenders any of her rights after she consumes her alcohol is equally repugnant to all of us? Here’s the deal: if a woman is falling over drunk, seen staggering around a hotel lobby (being led in this case by our honourable and relatively sober footballer, and Ched Evans’ companion), she is not in a position to consent to sex. If you have any respect for that human being, whatsoever; any decency; any kindness, you do not convince, coerce or force her to engage in an act she is probably physically incapable of stopping. This is something we need desperately need to deepen our understanding of. This idea spreads to consent within a relationship- “if they’ve consented before, it can’t have been rape”- needless to say, this is false. There is absolutely nothing a person can do which in any way, to any extent justifies, explains or excuses sexual assault. It is the responsibility of both parties in a sexual encounter to establish whether they both have consent: it is not a difficult thing to establish. A rapist knows exactly what they are doing, although perhaps some do not know the degree to which it will go on to affect the lives and relationships of their victims.
The Media
The media reporting on this issue is shockingly poor. This is something I’ve always been aware of but, to be honest, have paid little attention to until my attention was brought to it at the session I recently attended. It is so hard to find good reporting on rape- this is not “good reporting” in the sense of reporting which immediately sympathises with the victim over the accused, it’s good reporting which does not employ any of the subtle (or not so subtle) tactics with which the culture of victim blaming is validated and perpetuated. Daily Mail (now the most visited news website in the world) publishes story upon story demonising those who accuse people of rape- “crying rape”- being their apparently buzz-phrase. Here are some examples. This phrase is damaging in itself, considering the connotations of childishness and the resulting trivialisation of the issue. Articles are littered with phrases and attitudes which sustain this perception of rape, and reinforce the idea that only the situations envisaged within them are valid and worthy of our attention. It’s the familiar image of a woman being jumped in an alleyway, which we’ve all associated with sexual assault at one point or another. This is an important myth to dispel, because it’s simply not what happens in the majority of rape cases, and- more to the point- no assault is any more traumatic during or after the event simply because a) their attacker was a stranger, b) they were sober and so on.
Occasionally, the media does entertain the idea that the problem might in fact be rapists, but it does this by depicting them as “inhuman” ; “monsters”, i.e. not regular people you see on the street from day to day; not our fathers, friends or brothers; not people existing comfortably within our society but something entirely detached. Again this is regressive, because it results in our subconscious belief that not only can we take measures which effectively lower our risk of rape, but that we will be able to immediately identify a rapist. We can’t. Musa Okwonga wrote a brilliant piece which covers this issue and many others surrounding the public response to the Ched Evans case here.
Undeniably, strides have been made in recent years in order to bring attention to this issue and better accommodate victims within the legal/judicial system. Perhaps most essentially, the Sexual Offences Act of 2003, which you can read about in detail here. The conviction rate has increased, but the real issue is the attrition rate and the rate of reporting (tonnes of interesting stuff about this and related issues in The Stern Review). If we do not try to better understand rape itself, as well as the victims and the rapists, we cannot expect any improvement in those two things. If we do not address the victim blaming culture so very present in our media and our society as a whole, the rate of people being raped will continue to increase, and rapists will not be held accountable for their actions. We need to open up the discussion of rape to do this. We need to create dialogues in education, in the home, anywhere possible. We need to start with boys, and teach them that it is their responsibility to be sure that they have consent before engaging in sex. We need to realise what the legal definition of this means, and just how prevalent rape is here in the UK and worldwide. We need to appreciate just how it affects so many people so deeply, and why. We need to tackle the issue of inadequate and downright poor journalism on the topic. We need to challenge the myths and misconceptions surrounding rape and challenge the feelings of shame, guilt and self-blame suffered so extremely by victims. We need to offer our support to those people and to the organisations and services which many of them so desperately rely upon. And we absolutely can.
