It is sexual exploitation to make someone feel compelled, coerced or forced to do something of a sexual nature that they do not like. This includes repeated attempts at sexual contact when you have already been rejected by the individual. No one ever owes you sex; and no means no

Sometimes, victims are suspected, immediately, of lying. Yet when an person is subjected to lying, the stigma does not last. Why are we cautious when victims make false allegations, but never remember how many people knowingly lied, downplayed or exploited others to cover it up.

Survivors of the assaults react differently. Since being physically, mentally and/or sexually exploited there is no right or wrong way of responding. Many people simply don't think about it. We choose not to get it rehashed. Others would need to report their shock, discomfort,eg

Whilst it's sexual harassment awareness month I'd like to remind people it's rape to compel your partner to have sex with you. Saying no once or multiple times, and pushing them until they cave is rape. You STILL have to get permission every time even if you've had sex before.

Men should talk more often about men's sexual assault. Don't just wait until women have conversations about their sexual abuse to remind them that men are sexually abused too.

The blame lies with the attacker, not the victim, not the survivor. It's unfortunate that so many of us have to suffer this kind of crap, and I'm so sorry if it happened to you.

In order to avoid responsibility for his actions, the perpetrator does everything in his power to foster forgetfulness. When secrecy fails, the attacker threatens the reputation of the victim. If he can't silence her absolutely, he's trying to make sure no one listens to her.

One of the reasons a survivor finds it so difficult to see themselves as a victim is they have been constantly blamed for the abuse: "If you weren't such a slut, this wouldn't have to happen." “If you weren’t wearing that,
It wouldn’t have happened”

Individuals do not know the harm they do by putting the blame on the victim ~ but this does not mitigate the damage they do by doing so.

‘Justifying a demonic act does not make the actor less demonic; justifying only makes the negator more complicit’

We need feminism because derogatory phrases such as "walk of shame" are ubiquitous in our social language, but they are only attributed to women; while men in the same situation are celebrated by their peers and treated by the rest of society as nothing more than "a lucky man."

Now let’s talk about the trauma. You have undergone a life-changing trauma and are likely to live with PTSD symptoms- hypervigilance, flashbacks, and confusion -with broken faith, unable to cope with certain circumstances, and utter shutdown of parts of your mind.

Traumatic incidents, by nature, overpower our capacity to deal with them. When the mind is flooded with emotion, a ‘circuit breaker is thrown that allows us to survive the experience fairly intact’, that is, without becoming psychotic or frying one of the brain centres.

In other words, we sometimes unconsciously avoid experiencing our pain partly within it, like a film that continues after the sound has been turned off. We can't recover until we go past the trauma entirely, including all the event's feelings.

I have encountered many, profoundly depressed people whose everyday lives are filled with the pain of both remembered and unremembered traumas, who try so hard to recover and yet are continually being forced down both by their symptoms and by the crushing circumstances of PTSD

Why is groping girls in the club so normalised. Why can guys walk past+ grab your butt. My body is mine, we should be able to go to the club WITHOUT the fear of being groped. If you see friends exhibiting this behaviour why are you standing there doing nothing??????

Victim support - 08 08 16 89 111. Rape Crisis - 0808 802 9999. There are so many services out there please remember you’re not alone. Hope this thread makes genuinely brings more light upon sexual assault and rape during sexual assault awareness month.