2-2 What is rape?

Rape in the state of MD is forced or unwanted penetration of a vagina by a penis. There is a number of other sexual activity that is under sexual violence. Those these can be just as horrible and traumatic they are not considered "rape."

These acts are not an act of sexual desire or any act of intimacy, but rather of a demonstration of power and control. Most of these acts are not done by strangers but by people the victim knows. This fact is hard for people to accept and what is even harder for people to fathom is that most of these are not violent.

Most of the time the victims feel ashamed and feel that it is their fault. They don't realize that this person betrayed them this way (typically) especially because of the stereotypes that our media puts out. The whole "you got what you deserved" and "you were asking for it with that outfit" and so on. When these women and men get sexually assaulted they feel this way because this is how our society tells them to.

Now it is especially hard for men to come forth about being raped. This is due to not much information out on it and people not believing them. People will say things like "dont tell me you didnt enjoy it" and so on. The next steps for Rape Crisis places I belive is reach out more to the gay and lesbian group and the men. Show that we support them as well because they also need our help just as much.

http://rapecrisiscc.org/