CNN report on Rape Academies
On reading the stories of the courageous women who have come forward in the wake of the CNN report on so called ‘rape academies’, I’m struck by how soon we forget about the prevalence of intimate partner violence. In 90% of rape and sexual assault cases, the perpetrator is known to the victim.
At the time of Gisele Pelicot trial, I was interviewed on the radio to profile why so many men opted in to the invitation to commit acts of rape and sexual assault. The foundation of this stems from male entitlement: an internalised belief that sexual access and satisfaction is a right. Viewed through this lens, we can start to appreciate how the concept of consent is often overlooked. This fundamental societal introject - encoded in men’s brains and in many places enshrined in law - is in my view the most pernicious and harmful threat to women. It took the Pelicot case to change the legal definition of rape in France from necessitating: ‘violence, threat or shock’ rather than the absence of consent.
If male entitlement provides the foundational logic for non-consensual sex, then objectification is the mechanism that powers it. By stripping a person of their humanity and reducing them to a tool for pleasure, objectification effectively removes the obstacle of their agency. This dehumanisation acts as a buffer; it allows the entitled individual to ignore or dismiss a partner's lack of consent because, in their view, an object has no feelings, boundaries, or rights to violate. In this sense, entitlement sets the goal, while objectification provides the psychological distance necessary to reach it.
All of this important context for the recent CNN expose on ‘rape academies’.
Online communities don’t just normalise these views, they amplify them. The sense of belonging and validation from sharing views and influencing others is potent. This has the potential to fuel motivation and accelerate execution.
Whilst I would never suggest that there is any hierarchy of trauma, in my experience having worked with Rape Crisis and as a women’s therapist in private practice; trauma arising from intimate partner violence is often more complex.
The pre-meditated element of drug facilitated sexual assault (DFSA) is one of the most challenging things for many women I work with. This removes any doubt about intent. Psychological safety is an important theme for all victims, however when rape and assault occur within the home, there is literally no safe space. This is also the case for women who have experienced childhood sexual abuse. This is compounded by the fact that many women rely on their partner to provide both emotional and financial safety, causing a paralysing internal conflict.
It’s common for survivors of sexual violence to be in a state of hyper-vigilance for years after their experiences. However, women who have experienced DFSA often experience much lower arousal (or perceived threat) levels due to amnesia. This tends to result in delayed PTSD.
Trauma arising from experiences of sexual violence doesn’t only impact our emotional wellbeing. It has myriad physiological manifestations. Survivors are more likely to experience chronic health conditions including: migraines, gut issues, insomnia. Negative or limiting beliefs stemming from sexual trauma also prevent survivors from engaging in the workplace and in relationships. The reason that these negative beliefs have such an impact is because they speak to identity - ‘I don’t matter’, ‘I’m not safe’, ‘I’m bad’, ‘I’m not good enough’ - rather than experiences. This hyperpersonalisation of fault is in stark contrast to the depersonalisation and that perpetrators experience.
As a survivor of sexual violence - something that inspired me to re-train as a psychotherapist and work with Rape Crisis - one of the most helpful things I learned was that ‘It’s my fault’ is actually a survival strategy. Victims of rape and sexual assault are powerless. And our culture and legal system does very little to re-balance this power. The unexpected benefit of believing that things are our fault, is that we have agency. We have the ability to change. If we believe that everything is someone else's fault, then we have no power to change them.
But for this to happen, we need an empathic witness. This is why I always advise survivors to a) only disclose when they feel ready to and b) to choose who they disclose to first. Organisations like Rape Crisis are trained in disclosure of sexual violence, and often have both telephone and text based offerings. Disclosing before we are ready or to someone who isn’t ready to hear what we have to say, can be re-traumatising. Often termed ‘the second rape’ many women I speak to have had incredibly difficult experiences reporting incidents to the police.
Research shows that the act of being an ‘empathic witness’ improves client experience across many different therapy approaches. As a therapist trained in sexual trauma, I don’t need to offer solutions or intervene to help my clients heal. The act of being alongside them and saying: “I see the distress this is causing you”, “I hear the impact this is having on you” and crucially “I believe you” is sufficient.
When survivors are believed, resourced, and protected, power shifts: from domination toward autonomy. What this reveals is that power is not only about who can harm, but about who is seen. About who is heard, and ultimately about who is valued.