Honouring Your Pain

'...[T]he chief contribution Christians can make is to keep people from suffering for the wrong reasons. We can 'honour' pain...the first step in helping a suffering person is to acknowledge that pain is valid and worthy of a sympathetic response'.

Philip Yancey (2000) Where Is God When It Hurts? 

If you have been a victim of rape, you will experience pain-emotional, social and perhaps physical. Your pain is real and no-one should make light of it with good or bad intentions. You need time to heal. You need support. Research reveals a multitude of emotional and physical short term and long term effects of rape including:

Physical	Social and Psychological
Damage to genitals, bladder, rectum	Eating disorders
Chronic pelvic pain. Vaginismus: involuntary spasm of vaginal muscles making intercourse and gyneocological examination painful and sometimes impossible.	Self harm, suicidal thoughts. Some psychologists have identified a variant of post traumatic stress known as the Rape Syndrome which has multiple symptoms and stages.
Bruises, cuts, bite marks	Panic attacks, generalised anxiety disorders
Sexually transmitted diseases	Depression
Pregnancy	Memory problems
Broken and fractured limbs	Social withdrawal/relationship difficulties

 This wide variety of physical and psychological consequences can disable women socially, emotionally and sexually.                                                              

 If you have been a victim of rape and would like to speak to somebody the following links will be useful.

Please note that in providing these links, I do not necessarily endorse all of the views expressed.