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Our Reactions as a Victim

Victims of sexual violence experience many different feelings, such as:

• confusion
• denial
• shock
• fear
• self-blame
• embarrassment
• helplessness

Victims of date or acquaintance rape often have:

• fear of guilt and responsibility
• concerns about their ability to make good judgments about people
• difficulty accepting what happened as rape

All these feelings and reactions are normal. You need not hide your feelings or pretend they are not there. Working through them is the first step toward coping with the crisis.

No one asks or deserves to be raped! There is help…someone you can talk with, who will listen, who understands.