Nicole Yonkers AP Psychology 10/24/2013 My lot in life is getting sexually assaulted on the way back to my dorm room after

night class. I am 18 years old, a freshman in college. I was on my way home from class one night when I got sexually assaulted. Now I have to deal with the flashbacks, the anger, the depression, and the lack of self confidence. Its a really hard thing to get past, and it feels as if its going to haunt me forever. Research: rticle 1 !niversity of "heffield. #$%1$&. 'oping with (ape and "exual ssault. In merican cademy of )xperts in *raumatic "tress. (etrieved from http+,,www.aaets.org,article11-.htm

.omen who have been raped are affected in many ways. *hey feel frightened, guilty, powerless, angry, ashamed, depressed, numb, and lack self/confidence. "ome have difficulty eating or sleeping, and have trouble concentrating. 0eople dont reali1e that sexual assault could happen where you least expect it. 2ver half of rape cases are commited by a man well known to the women. (ape and assault is never a womens fault, and the women needs to reali1e this. "he cant let herself think that she deserved it for some reason. ll women will react differently to the assault. Its important for her to acknowledge how she feels and cope with it. .omen must also know that they can report the rape to the police if they wish for their perpetrator to be prosecuted. rticle $ The effects of trauma do not have to last a lifetime. #3anuary, 14 $%%5&. (etrieved from http+,,apa.org,research,action,ptsd.aspx lot of times women that get physically or sexually assaulted will deal with 0*"6 #post traumatic stress disorder&. It will make them have trouble functioning in their normal lives and personal relationships. .omen need to know though that it can get better with psychological interventions. (esearch showed that almost 87 of adult mericans will experience 0*"6 at some point in their lives. .omen are twice as likely

to get assaulted compared to men. In the past decade many mental health communities have been trying to figure out how to help those who have been traumati1ed. "ome of the programs that have been created are8 the 6isaster (esponse Network, *he National ssociation of "tate 9ental :ealth 0rogram 6irectors, and the 6isaster :ealth Institute. rticle ; !nknown. #!nknown&. Bulletins for teens: Sexual assault. (etrieved from http+,,www.victimsofcrime.org,help/for/crime/victims,get/help/bulletins/for/crime/ victims,bulletins/for/teens,sexual/assault .omen, teen girls actually, need to know that sex in any form is only okay if its consensual. .hen you are physically forced to do something that you dont want to do sexually it is an assault. 9ost people are assaulted by someone that they know so they will be afraid to get help, although its not fair to be feeling afraid, ashamed, and lonely for something that was done to them. <etting help is the absolute best way to go, and there are lots of ways to do it now. 9edical attention would be the first step, preferably an emergency room. *elling a trusted friend or adult will help them feel safer. *hey also need to help themselves. *hey should make sure that they arent alone and have a safe place to stay. Synthesis: lmost all articles on sexually or physical assault state that the victim should get immediate help. *hey should not be ashamed of what happened, they =ust need to embrace it and work on getting over it. Its important that they arent afraid to get help and tell a trusted person. *hey also need to know that they will get through it, even when they feel like they wont> ll in all, a sexually or physically assaulted person will more than likely have a lot of side effects and should N2* be scared to get help. Available Community Resource: "exual ssault "ervices of 'alhoun 'ounty ;4 .. 9anchester "t. ?attle 'reek, 9I 5@%;#$4@& $5A/;@$A or a $5 hour crisis line at #888& ;8;/$1@$ Available Internet Resource: http+,,www.pandys.org,

*his website provides you with most of the information that you would want. *hey have support groups and extensive articles about rape. *hey also have online chat rooms for people to talk to eachother about what happend. "ometimes talking to someone who went through the same thing helps someone cope because they feel like no one else understands. *hey have reading list and places you can go to learn about how to cope with what happened. http+,,www.rccmsc.org,resources,get/the/facts.aspx *his is the rape crisis center. It provides people with all the true facts that they need to know about rape, or being raped. It provides places that you can go if it happens to you, and it reminds victims that its not their fault and they should reach out for help. <oing through it alone will only make it worse. https+,,www.safehelpline.org,information/on/rape/in/the/military *his website has a list of things that someone should do if they have been sexually assaulted. It goes in a list, starting with getting away from the perpetrator. If someone were to get assaulted they could go to this website and step by step know what the suggested route of what to do to get through it in the most painless way possible.

ffects on !evelo"ment: "ocial/ teen who was physically or sexually assaulted may have trouble developing socially. *eens strive for competence, feeling able and productive, which could be altered if they are attacked. *hey might recede into a Bshell and not want independence because they are scared. ?eing attacked could greatly affect a teen. *hey may also have trouble finding their self/identity. )motional/ Coung adults struggle with intimacy and isolation. 2ne who has been attacked will more than likely so into isolation. 9ore than likely the person that attacked them they knew and they will probably be scared to get close to people again. *he victim will more than likely have trouble trusting most people, especially in an intimate relationship in the case that they were sexually attacked, and will go towards isolation. 0hysical/ "omeone who is was assaulted wouldnt have physically development problems unless they were really serious hurt in the attack. In that case, the victim should have already received medical attention so they can develop normally. #bstacles and $hat Society can do to %el" teenager, or young women, who has been sexually assaulted would probably get a lot of different views from society. *hats because of the way that we =udge people.

*hey feel ashamed that it happened to them. ?ecause of this they may not reach out for help or get medical attention for the fear of getting =udged. .omen may also be afraid to tell someone so they will be going through it all alone, which would more than likely lead to isolation. It would be a really difficult thing to go through, even with all the resources we have now a days.

(eference 0age !niversity of "heffield. #$%1$&. 'oping with (ape and "exual ssault. In merican cademy of )xperts in *raumatic "tress. (etrieved from http+,,www.aaets.org,article11-.htm

!nknown. #!nknown&. Bulletins for teens: Sexual assault. (etrieved from http+,,www.victimsofcrime.org,help/for/crime/victims,get/help/bulletins/for/crime/ victims,bulletins/for/teens,sexual/assault

The effects of trauma do not have to last a lifetime. #3anuary, 14 $%%5&. (etrieved from http+,,apa.org,research,action,ptsd.aspx https+,,www.safehelpline.org,information/on/rape/in/the/military http+,,www.rccmsc.org,resources,get/the/facts.aspx http+,,www.pandys.org,