FORMS OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE

  • Rape by unidentified man
  • Rape on the date
  • Rape by acquaintance, friend, neighbor…
  • Marital rape
  • War rape
  • Attempted rape
  • Sexual harassment or blackmailing at work, school, on faculty, street, in public transportation…
  • Incest by trusted adult or by person of authority
  • Sexual misuse of children by taking pornographic images and films, selling and child prostitution
  • Sexual trafficking in women
  • Sexual usage of women trough prostitution, pornography and sexual slavery.


REACTIONS AFTER RAPE ACT:

In a crisis, each reacts differently. It is important to know that emotions after surviving the sexual violence are normal reaction to an abnormal event - sexual violence. 

Phase one: DIRECT RESPONSE

  • Reaction to fear of death expereince
  • Shock and disbelief - feeling of fear, guilt, helplessness, humiliation, embarrassment, anger abut your own behavior
  • Loss: of self-confidence, of trust in the people around you, feeling of control over your life, feelings of security
  • Mood swings, crying, silence, irritability
  • Bodily reactions: change in appetite, sleep, concentration, sexual desire, attitude towards your body
  • Two kinds of emotional reactions: expressive (the need for talking or crying) and controlled (the need for silence or reticence)

 Phase two: REORGANIZTION / ADAPTATION

  • attempt to avoid thoughts and feelings related to the traumatic event  an attempt to release the fears and anxieties
  • avoiding places and people that remind you of the event
  • rationalization, " it is not that important ",  the assertion that the whole event was forgotten, the illusion of healing
  • However, at this stage usually persist : feelings of depression, social withdrawal, fears, nightmares , flashbacks, lack of trust in others

Phase three: RECOVERY

  • The opportunity to talk about the consequences of trauma on our lives
  • Linking fears with the traumatic event
  • Gradually taking control and feeling of safety
  • Sense of normalcy returns
  • placing guilt to a perpetrator / abuser
  • Expression of anger and rage

Each phase is a step towards the resolution of the consequences of sexual violence.


WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR YOURSELF:

The first moment: It is important to be in place and the people where you feel safe. While considering whether to file charges against the perpetrator, it is important to go to a doctor, to record visible or invisible injuries.

Long-term: Every attempt to establish control over your life is important. Make your own decisions when it is possible strengthen and encourages the re-establishment of security, self-respect and integrity. Decide when and where to tell what happened to you. It is important that you trust those people. Even the adoption of small, everyday choices will help you in the recovery process. Take care of your health.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO TRUST YOURSELF that you did everything in your power to stay alive and that you did not do anything wrong.


SEVERAL TRUTHS ON RAPE

  • Women are not guilty
  • Women do not want to be raped and do not cause rape
  • Shame of rape is a rapist’s disgrace
  • The fact that you did not want it, represents opposing the rape
  • Rape is not the result of uncontrollable impulse or instinct, instead it is pre -planned act of violence
  • Women usually know the rapist (in 80 % of cases)
  • Rapists are ordinary men from all social classes, educational levels, ethnicities, races, and disabilities
  • Researches have shown that rape is not the product of mental disorders
  • Society with its prejudices maintains sexual violence
  • Women still do not have adequate support in most institutions
  • Rape is a crime


Report sexual violence:

Department for sexual assaults of the National Police in Belgrade, 29. Novembra Street, No. 107
Phone numbers 011/3292-622 - lokal 3541 – hotline for sexual assaults (24h)

011/2682-522 - Institute of Forensic Medicine – medical examination , proof on bodily injuries.