Sexual assault is an act in which a person intentionally sexually touches another person without that person’s consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence which includes rape, groping, child sexual abuse or the torture of the person in a sexual manner.
The things which force a sexual assault victim to keep it as a secret are mainly becausemany become the target of slut-shaming and cyberbullying. In addition, their credibility may be challenged. Psychologists say that many sexually abused people are silenced by fear and shame and never reveal what had happened. These people carry the secret for years or even decades.
Under the burden of shame and fear,many people continuously suffer by such assaults. Sometimes, the suffering of assault and helplessness to reveal the crime reaches to an extent that the victim commits suicide. Casol Anne Marchetti,a clinical associate professor and who holds an appointment as Associate Clinical professor at Northeastern University said, “If we could take even small number of offenders off the streets, we could greatly reduce the rate of the crime.” Therefore, instead of suffering a lot from continuous sexual assault and many other relative things it’s better not to keep it as a secret. In fact,be courageous and confident to fight against it because it’s not at all your fault.
During criminal proceedings, publication bans and rape shield laws may operate to protect victims from excessive public scrutiny. Health workers should be free of bias prejudices and maintain high ethical standards in the provision for victims of sexual assault. Also, the health care and legal (forensic) services should be provided at same time and place by the accused person. Health workers should also receive special training in providing services for victims of sexual violence and should also have a good understanding of local protocols,roles and laws applicable to the field of sexual violence. If these kinds of measures are taken into account then the victims may take more courage to come forward and reveal the crime instead regret keeping sexual assault a secret.
Saloni Sharma
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