If you or someone you love has been raped, be sure to follow these steps to get over the trauma.
Steps
Step 1. Try to convince yourself that what happened was not your fault
Step 2. If you are in an emergency situation, if you have just been raped or assaulted call 112 immediately
Step 3. Talk about what happened to you with someone, over the phone or online
Contact any association that can help you, such as the HELP WOMAN association or the pink phone
Step 4. Seek a therapist or help
- Look for a counseling center
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Look for a therapist who specializes in treating this type of trauma.
Heal From Rape and Sexual Assault (Rape Trauma Syndrome) Step 5 Step 5. Consider seeing a doctor
In particular, to undergo all the necessary treatments.
- Treatments may include the "morning after pill" prophylaxis treatment, which means you will need to be treated for sexually transmitted diseases with antibiotics, or get tested. Many sexually transmitted diseases have an incubation period and these treatments will allow the disease to be cured before symptoms occur. You can choose whether to undergo all these treatments or to refuse some of them
- Treatments also include collecting possible forensic evidence. Reporting to the police is not necessary. Remember that exams are confidential and you can always choose what to take and what not.
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At the hospital you will surely find someone who will be able to give you the right contacts, from therapists or consultants.
Advice
- Sexual abuse has even deeper consequences when kept under wraps. Talk to someone about it, it will help you get over it. It could be your mate or a friend you trust. If you don't feel comfortable talking to someone you know, try finding a therapist. Don't go on living with this weight. If the person you have chosen to talk to is not helping you then go to someone else.
- Whether you decide to file a report or you don't, it's best to go to the hospital to see you.
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The 4 main symptoms of post traumatic stress due to sexual assault are:
- Reliving the trauma (rape victims may have flashbacks or may find themselves thinking about rape very often)
- Abandonment of social life
- Apathetic behaviors (the tendency to avoid thinking about anything or having feelings that may, in some way, be linked to rape)
- Irritability, hostile behavior, fear and anger
- If you want to make a complaint, don't shower or clean your nails before you have taken the tests and allowed those in charge to collect the evidence. If you did, you would destroy important evidence. Even if you don't want to file a report, search at first it's a good idea to let the evidence be collected anyway, as you may change your mind.
- If a rapist pushes you against a wall and starts kissing you, respond to the kiss to distract him and then, (if it's a man) kick him in the groin. If it's a girl, hit, scratch or kick to get rid of her.
Warnings
- Rapists tend to threaten their victims to prevent them from reporting the incident. They may say things like "Your parents will be ashamed of you" or "Nobody will want to marry you now." They may also tell you that no one will believe you and that they will all take you for a liar. They may tell you that you sought it out because you did something or dressed a certain way. Know that everything they tell you is a lie. You are a victim and you have the right to tell your story if you want to. By reporting them you will protect other people from having to suffer the same thing.
- Many rape victims suffer from PTSD, OCD, identity dissociation and eating disorders, so it is highly recommended that you seek out a therapist and counselor who specializes in these traumas and can help you.
- Many rapists tell their victims that they will kill them or that they will kill someone from their family if they report them to silence them. After hurting you they will continue to hurt you until they are arrested and put in jail.
- Keep in mind that blaming the victim means holding the victim accountable for what happened to her. "The false myths about rape, which are often false rumors, are one of the many ways the rape culture is perpetuated and lead to to hold the victims guilty for a wrong they have suffered.
