The large number of cases of violence against women highlights a long-forgotten reality: the difficulty of most contemporary societies in understanding victims of sexual assault.
Unfortunately, many people still accuse the victim and their recovery attempts are used to try to challenge their accounts of the facts.
- The reality is that rape is a fact with consequences that go far beyond that moment.
- So it is important to know what psychological aspects can be compromised.
- So that victims of sexual assault regain their well-being as soon as possible.
“One in three women can be abused and abused in their lives. This is an abominable violation of human rights, but is it still one of the most invisible and least well-known pandemics of our time?Nicole Kidman?
First, it is important to work on an aspect that has a marked influence on psychological discomfort: the fact that victims of sexual assault blame themselves.
Negative assessments of themselves after trauma are common, leading to post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and generally worse adaptation.
If we think about the rape cases we see in the news, it’s common for many to ask if the crime actually happened and ask absurd questions (such as why didn’t you say that?What clothes?Were you wearing it?) Questions contribute to beliefs about taking the blame
“No, that’s not the case. And if you didn’t say yes, that’s not the case either. And if you wore a short skirt, neither did you. And if you’re trying to get on with your life despite your fear, neither are you. And if someone tries to make you feel guilty, the answer is no. ?The blonde neighbor (blog)?
We must consider that the subjective assessment of those who suffered the aggression is not the only influence, the social support that this victim receives is also a very important aspect, the person needs to realize that he has it to regain his well-being.
Finally, it is extremely important to use adaptive emotional control and coping strategies.
First, it is important to work, through cognitive restructuring, on all the beliefs that victims of sexual assault have around them and about their guilt in the event.
In this sense, we need to change the ideas that sometimes seem to deserve what happened, it is not difficult to imagine, according to recent events, that this is something that must also be worked on in relation to our current society.
“In the face of atrocities, must we take a position, does silence stimulate the executioner?Elie Wiesel?
Unfortunately, these thoughts are rooted in many groups. When it comes to coping techniques, victims can apply problem-oriented strategies, which often adapt to other types of situations.
In this case, those that focus on emotion are better because we are faced with events that are not controlled by the person himself.
Finally, it’s important to say something about social support and how victims of sexual assault notice it, sometimes when we have a loved one who has gone through a traumatic situation, we want to help him, but we don’t know how. to do so.
We can make sure the victim has our support, but not exactly as he needs it.
In this sense, it is important to consider that perhaps the best way to provide our help is to let mental health professionals (psychologists and psychiatrists) do their job and that they are trying to help that person.
That’s not to say we’re not going to support the victim, but we need to assess whether we’re doing it properly.
The images are courtesy of Kevin Laminto and Chau Luong.