[Eace]

Many thanks to the writer for this article.

Rape is a terrible thing; both for the victim and for the criminal even though the latter often does not think so. But the concern must be for the victim: for the person whose spirit and being has been abused, subjugated, oppressed, humiliated and mutilated. The memory never goes away and often will lead to severe psychological pressures that will often manifest in negative attitues towards herself and to others. Interestingly, apart from the cruelty of wars and the attacks by serial rapists where the victims are randomly picked, most victims of rape actually know their attackers. Most have some form of relationship with their attackers which begs the question - why do they still fall victim? Why do they not complain? Why does our society prefer not to talk about this?

What do we do?

Women must be educated; they must be directed to the knowledge that they are the owners of their bodies and the primary defenders of themselves. Even with the emancipation of women in these contemporary times, women subconsciously hold the view that they are inferior to men; cannot physically defend themselves and; somehow need male approval for their very existence. From a young age, women think they ought not to resist unwanted male attention; they believe they can never overpower a man; they play up to female competition - trying to be more glamourous, more daring, more sophisticated than other women and even more sexually aware than men, which often puts them into the very situations they ought to be avoiding. Talks, seminars, school visitations by those women who can speak to young adults is important. I have tried to do this on a number of occasions and I have always been touched by how vulnerable young girls really are and how grateful they are to have someone else affirm their right to be feminine but not weak, beautiful but not vain and, bold without being brash.

Women also need empowerment - to understand that they are human just as well as men and to appreciate that while they may not have as much brawn as men, that their intuition and intelligence will always come to their assistance if only they would learn to use these natural talents.

Criminal punishment is important but I consider that self empowerment is even more important because the 'victim' must first be able to identify the crime, to know its many forms, to understand the circumstances which may lead to rape and try as much as possible to avoid them and, to be sufficiently angered enough to speak up against it.