10 people share what it’s like being a survivor of date rape

An unfortunately frequent occurrence, date rape is a trauma that impacts the lives of women and men all over the world. While people are coming up with different ways to try and prevent date rape from occurring, it’s not something that’s going away any time soon. And since all of the advice to avoid date rape is preventative, it places the onus on the victim to prevent their assault.

Don’t leave your drink unattended. Don’t get too drunk. Don’t accept anything from strangers. Always have a friend with you while going out at night. It’s not that these aren’t important things to know and keep in mind, but it’s easy for somebody who has experienced sexual assault to feel like it’s their fault after it happens. And although we like to think people are better than this, often survivors of date rape are treated badly by friends and family, who don’t realize the harm they’re doing.

On top of all of that, we live in a culture that is so permissive toward rape that the hopes of your attacker actually being punished seem so small, and the reward of seeing justice brought against them paltry compared to how impossible and grueling it can be for a victim to report an assault. Between insensitive officials, and the way you’re asked to repeat your story so many times, it’s often a struggle people aren’t prepared for in the wake of such a traumatic incident.

These insights, courtesy of Whisper, help to shed a light on what it feels like to live as a survivor of date rape.

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If you have suffered from date rape or sexual assault, there are resources available to you to help you handle it in a way that is most comfortable and helpful to you.