/r/rapecounseling
RapeCounseling is a Reddit forum dedicated to providing an open forum ONLY for survivors and victims of sexualized violence across the spectrum.
RapeCounseling is dedicated to providing emotional support to those who have experienced rape or any type of sexualized violence.
Commenters are survivors, professionals, or simply kind-hearted and knowledgeable people who care. Under no circumstances should advice in RapeCounseling be considered professional or legal advice.
Sub Rules:
Please note: Violation of any rules, intentional or not, will likely result in a ban. If you believe you were mistakenly banned, please contact the Moderation Team to discuss.
1) Remember the person Disrespect of any poster or commenter will not be tolerated. This is a safe place for people to come and talk about vulnerable situations.
2) DO NOT private message posters Do NOT PM posters under any circumstances, unless explicitly invited by the poster themselves. Doing so is a bannable offense. Please do not hesitate to report users and contact us Mods. We will help you report any harassment and unwanted PMs. To add: do not ask people to private message you in a post or comment. There are too many people who prey on the Redditors in this sub and it's too much of a risk.
3) No victim-blaming Victim-blaming comments/posts will be deleted and you will be banned.
4) No invalidation Comments/posts invalidating other's experience will be removed. Users will be subject to ban.
5) No soliciting or ads Under no circumstances are you to ask for money or favors from Redditors in this sub. There are other subs for that. This one is for people who've had experiences surrounding sexual trauma and need emotional support and advice.
6) No research (for the foreseeable future) We used to allow people who were conducting research to post on our sub asking for participants. That is no longer the case. We want to use this sub only for emotional support and advice. This may change in the future.
7) No fetishizers or trolls Redditors can make serious posts and comments about fetishes they feel may have resulted from their trauma, but we will ban anyone who tries to get sexual pleasure from other's trauma. There are other subs for that that you can go to. This rule may be subject to change based on how well it's actually followed.
8) No posts admitting to sexual assault or harassment It has come to our attention that there are posts from Redditors asking if they have committed sexual assault or those admitting they have committed sexual assault. This sub is not appropriate for those posts. This sub is for those who have had acts of sexual assault and abuse committed against them.
9) ** Trigger Warnings are mandatory for any mentions of self harm and suicidal thoughts in posts.** Any posts mentioning self harm or suicidal thoughts require a trigger warning. Forgetting the trigger warning will be followed by one warning. Forgetting the trigger warning after that will result in a permanent ban.
Crisis Center Links:
U.S.
Canada
Websites offering support and recovery:
RAINN - Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network
Hot Peaches-an international directory of support services
Related subreddits:
/r/MSTsurvivors: Military Sexual Trauma
/r/pandys: The Pandora's Aquarium subreddit.
/r/titleix Campus sexual assault
/r/traumatoolbox Mental health tools
/r/rapecounseling
I’m working on a limited series (podcast & video) on MST/SA in the military and going to share the stories of 5 survivors over the course of the season, maybe more or less depending on if some stories take a few episodes. My background is that I was previously married to a highly decorated special forces combat soldier for 5 years. He was insanely abusive, but every time I went to command or family advocacy to seek help in protection and accessing resources to escape, they backed him, turned a blind eye, or made me out to appear to be the one in the wrong.
In May, I launched a podcast discussing the high rate of domestic violence in the military, and my experience with military brass covering up for the perpetrator-or pressuring the victim to not follow through with charges. I asked people to write to me if they had shared experiences, and a few did. However, more than ANYTHING I received messages from survivors who shared that they were aware DV was INCREDIBLY prevalent in the armed forces, but they themselves were actually the victims of sexual assault and rape, and all of them made comments about being pressured to report restricted, to move on, or they were not believed.... or believed and ignored and essentially told “the mission comes first.”
Multiple victims were forced out of the military in various ways-whether the trauma severely impacted their mental health in a way that forced them to be medically boarded out, or the command found ways to get them chaptered out for various B.S. reasons to make them seem unfit (and protect the perpetrators).
Now, I’m on my own mission to demand systemic changes in the military. I am a huge military supporter myself, but the entity itself does not seem to care at all about the service members, specifically women… even more specifically women of color. I want to shine a light on the cruel and corrupt world inside the military. I’ve talked to so many individuals who all have stories of the military silencing them! I just don’t think the general public has any clue how dark that world is. If you are interested in participating, please comment or message me and we can chat more privately about the project. You can participate anonymously or share your identity, up to you.
This is a place for those who have experienced MST/SA during their military service. If you feel comfortable sharing your experience, you’ll likely help someone feeling isolated. If you have questions, here is the place to ask. If you have advice and or resources, please share it.
Some topics that you may want to consider:
*PTSD/Mental health and treatment options
*filing restricted/unrestricted
*filing claims (disability, etc)
*separating from the military/transitioning to civilian life (education/career ?s)
*coping mechanisms
*experienced discrimination or retaliation