Content warning: This article discusses sensitive topics such as rape and sexual assault.
I’ve had friends open up about their sexual assault experiences. Each time I felt the pain and sadness behind their choked up words and teary eyes, but I could never actually visualize how they must feel on a daily basis. After watching Unbelievable, the Netflix original based on true events of rape victims, it was eye-opening to watch the events unfold.
Here’s how they told the story no one wants to hear.
- The victims have different ways of coping with their personal experience of rape.
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Marie Adler wanted to forget her experience with sexual assault, but they kept asking her for the story. Traumatized by every recount, she lied and said it didn’t happen.
- Three years after the first reported rape shows the prevalence of the crime.
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A huge misconception about rape is if it hasn’t happened to me, it won’t. Even years later, these women of all different backgrounds were raped by the same man.
- It’s not just sex that scares a victim, it’s normal activities they used to do before the rape.
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One woman from the documentary said she couldn’t even garden. She couldn’t stop thinking of how the rapist picked her.
- Just the simple question “what happened?” can trigger the time the rape happened.
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Marie Adler kept reliving the sexual assault in her mind over and over again.
- Not every victim has a strong support system if there’s no concrete evidence.
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One of the victims had a boyfriend before the assault happened and he ended up leaving her in the middle of the investigation. There was a lack of evidence which therefore led to disbelief.
- They will never function the same.
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Sexual assault doesn’t just physically damage you, it mentally does as well.
If Unbelievable shows us anything, it is to always think before you act.