SEXUAL ASSAULT: FACT OR FICTION?

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Fact: “Rape is often not reported or convicted.” A person may choose not to report to law enforcement or tell anyone about a victimization they experienced for many reasons. Some of the most common include:
  • fear of not being believed
  • fear of retaliation
  • shame or fear of being blamed
  • pressure from others
  • distrust towards law enforcement
  • a desire to protect the attacker for other reasons
(National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2010) Fiction: “If a victim of sexual assault does not fight back, he/she must have thought the assault was not that bad or wanted it.” Many survivors experience a “freeze response” during an assault where they physically cannot move or speak. Also referred to as “tonic immobility,” it is a state of temporary, involuntary motor inhibition that occurs in states of intense fear.(Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 2014) Angela Kang, PhD, is a licensed psychologist in New York and New Jersey with a private practice in Pelham and a member of Project Community.