This is one of the most common questions we see posed at Pandora’s Aquarium and in other survivor communities. It should really come as no surprise that survivors blame themselves; it seems that society only takes rape seriously when the victim was violently overtaken by a stranger jumping out of the bushes. For most of us, our rapists were wolves in sheep’s clothing. They were our dates, our friends, our teachers, our cousins or fathers or mothers or husbands.
In the United States, only 40% of survivors report the crime. Of those, "a mere 7 percent go to trial, and only 1 percent of accu