Woman faced with false rape charges commits suicide; one user isn't happy about /r/pussypassdenied's reaction to the news.

I was raped and held at knife point by a family member and pretended to have a normal relationship with them after. My rapist sat next to me at the dining table for years. Denial, fear and shame runs very deep for a lot of survivors. What are you supposed to do if a respected member of your community does something terrible to you that you can't prove? If you report, everyone turns on you. My own mother refused to believe me.

Considering that most rapes go unreported I'd wager most victims try to maintain the appearance of normalcy after assault: it's a state of shock in which they simply can't process what happened, I know what it feels like, and it's a bit like being stuck standing in front of a vending machine in the middle of a blizzard, just numb and unable to make a decision. But I could still go through the motions of daily life, I even got good grades.

Going shopping the next day is not proof that everything is ok. It's actually exactly like something my abuser would have done, do something normal and public after, so I would look out of place crying, and try to buy me things to hide his guilt. It feels like gas lighting to me now: "see everything is normal and quiet here at the mall, you're making a scene, is this about last night? Can't we deal with that later/at home. I want to buy you something." The end result is very distracting and disorienting. Especially coming from a partner, I imagine people who are raped by their partners don't just up and start screaming and running for the phone. They sit there dazed and shocked, wondering if they even have the strength to call what they just endured the dreaded r word, unsure whether to carry on normally or go through all the additional trauma of outing a loved one as a criminal, finding out who all their real friends are and being interrogated by police.

Silence to a victim is like holding a thin lid over a life altering shitsplosion, and part of an abuser's gameplan is to keep their victim quiet by handing them that baggage. "Do you think any of our friends will belive you? It's your word against mine, who do you think a jury is going to believe?" They also couple those sorts of statements with profuse apologies, threats, erratic behavior, arguing, crying, bribes, anything to ensure their victim's silence. They can then turn around and behave normally and even be very charming and friendly towards people. I've seen manipulators work first hand and it is chilling, I would bet you any money most serial rapists are extroverts or well respected by their peers, they are more socially dominant people than society likes to admit, rather than the mythical horny stranger in the bushes.

So yeah, victims quite often do normal everyday sort of stuff with their abuser after assault. A video of two people shopping isn't proof of anything.

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