THE SECOND RAPE: Society's Continued Betrayal of the Victim

by Lee & Nancy C. Gamble Madigan ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 4, 1991

Violent physical rape is horrifying and the psychic trauma lingers. Moreover, according to psychologists Madigan and Gamble, if the attack is reported, a ""second rape""--the repeated humiliation and frustration the victim suffers in the maze of the criminal-justice system--begins. Through interviews with women who have been raped by strangers, acquaintances, or former lovers, a picture emerges here of a crime in which the victim is still judged as guilty or more so than the attacker. Frightened, in shock and pain, she must know to get an immediate physical examination and request that evidence be preserved. She must undergo interrogation by sometimes unsympathetic, often untrained, police officers, who seize on inconsistencies to avoid prosecuting the case. The district attorney represents the state, not the victim; juries still lean toward viewing a woman who has been raped as ""asking for it."" It is no wonder that rape is the most underreported crime. However, the authors say these important things in a drawn-out explication that might better have been a long magazine article than a book, and they fail to take proper notice of the fact that rape crisis centers and police-officer special training have been established across the country, and that society in general is now taking a harder line against acquaintance rape. Forceful but overlong. Most useful is a chapter on ""Survival Tactics,"" with explicit suggestions for rape victims on coping with bureaucracy, delays, and harassment.

Pub Date: Nov. 4, 1991

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 160

Publisher: Lexington

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1991

Categories: NONFICTION