I had a response! I had a legitimate non-spam response! It just takes a bit of encouragement and I'll write forever. So off I go again.
One of the most pervasive myths I deal with is that rape is perpetrated by strangers. Many women I speak with fear walking alone at night, fear being at home alone, fear waiting at a bus stop. They are all afraid of being attacked by a dark stranger.
Going back to the article in the Good Weekend by Mark Daipan and my own clinical experience we know that rape is perpetrated most often by men we know. Most occur by family members. In Mark's article he quoted that in 2008 78% of rapes were perpetrated by family members or known men.
I spend a great deal of my clinical time with the now adults of childhood rape. These children were raped, not by strangers, but by big brother, uncle Jo or Dad's mate. They were also taught to be frightened of "strangers." Ironic isn't it that strangers may have been the people who could have saved these children if they hadn't been so afraid? Ironic that women are now living lives of fear of the "outside" where so often the violence is at home.
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Irony - What a fascinating word.
ReplyDeleteAll that you have said is so true!! Why do we fear the outside world so much? Why do we then teach our children to fear the outside world? We, the adults of childhood rape should know better - yet we continue to live this fear and instill this fear upon our innocent children, when statistically they will not be harmed by the strangers, they will be harmed by the very people that we expose them to. Again why is this ? My guess is that it is easier to accept wrong doing by a stranger rather than someone that you have trusted, that then becomes something that you as a parent will have to live with. I can only know begin to understand how my mothers somewhat disfunctional behaviour may have been her way of dealing with her own guilt.
Just a thought!!! I can only pray that I have done enough for my girls to come to me if they have any concerns.