When Rape goes Viral

I just read, "When Rape goes Viral". I have heard many stories of sexual abuse in my life, and this isn't much different from them. It highlights the shamefully high amount of cases of rape and molestation at American schools. It took me a quite a while to figure out why many of the victims didn't speak out or go to the cops and have the rapists locked up.

I found out later that it is largely due to social media. When many of these sexual assaults take place, they take place at parties and some are even filmed, and then posted to Facebook. Many victims of sexual abuse are either embarrassed or ashamed of talking about it. That shame or embarrassment is multiplied if they learn that thousands of their peers know it as well.

Both boys and girls who are victims of sexual abuse become fearful of the public's perception of them. Many feel as if people have spoken ill of them on social media. Especially if someone does it to their face. Great examples of this are Tanya Kach and Robert Donnelly.

Tanya Kach was a 14 year old girl who was abducted by a neighbor. She was then subjected to sexual and physical abuse for a period of ten years. When she was finally freed, many people judged her and called her a whore, even though she was the victim of kidnapping and rape. Robert Donnelly was a 24 year old man who was abducted by the notorious serial killer, John Wayne Gacy (the Killer Clown). Gacy sexually assaulted Donnelly and nearly killed him. Unlike most of Gacy's victims Donnelly survived. But when he went to the police, they turned him away and called him a liar.

Past incidents like these have caused many victims of sexual abuse to stay silent and try to hide their terrible ordeal. I have put myself in their shoes and I understand why. What I don't understand is how some people can look at a victim of abuse or rape and laugh at them. What kind of sick person would find that funny? Why would anyone blame the victim for what some pervert did to them? It makes me sick to my stomach, that people like that act the way they do. I wish someone could tell me why they would see abuse as something to laugh about, because I really don't see it.

I do hope that people in the future can be less judgmental and have more compassion and insight to the victims of these vile crimes.