How Do I Know If I’ve Been Raped?

July 14, 2015 / Alli

(Content Warning: Rape, sexual assault, abuse)

There are a lot of lies out there that can make it hard to know if you were raped. So if you have questions about what “counts” as rape, you’re not the only one.

This guide provides what everyone needs to know about what rape means.

And it comes with a loving reminder for all survivors – you are not alone.

With Love,
The Editors at Everyday Feminism

Click for the Transcript

Panel 1

(A sleeping woman)

Text: If you were asleep,

Panel 2

(A worried looking woman)

Text: If you were threatened,

Panel 3

(A man at a table with alcohol and bubbles, indicating that he’s intoxicated)

Text: If you were chemically incapacitated,

Panel 4

(A woman in a chair with an IV drip)

Text: If you were unconscious,

Panel 5

A woman with a bruised face raising her arms to protect her head

Text: If force was used,

Panel 6

(A young boy)

Text: If you were under the age of consent or did not have the capacity to consent,

Panel 7

(A shirtless person saying “Wait, stop.”)

Text: If you changed your mind and were ignored,

Panel 8

(A woman with an upset expression on her face)

Text: If, for any reason you did not or could not consent,

Panel 9

Text: It was rape. If someone is penetrated with a body part or an object without consent, or is made to penetrate a person without consent, it is rape.

Panel 10

(A series of shapes: Six large dots, five of which are green, one of which is yellow; 33 triangles, 32 of which are gray, one of which is white; seven rectangles, six of which are pink, one of which is purple; two boxes, one of which is teal, one of which is green)

Text: Rape is distressingly common: One of every six women, one of every 33 men, one of every seven children, and one of every two transgender adults has survived a rape or an attempted rape. (Statistics from RAINN.org, OCV.gov)

Panel 11

(A group of indistinct figures, all but one of which are red with an isolated blue figure.)

Text: If you have been raped you are not alone.

Panel 12

(A group of people)

Text: Anyone of any race, gender, size, age, sexuality, or level of ability can be raped.

Panel 13

Text: There is no excuse for rape.

Panel 14

(Two women, one wearing very revealing clothes and the other wearing very unrevealing clothes.)

Text: No matter how you were dressed,

Panel 15

(A man at a bar under a clock showing 12am)

Text: What time of day it was,

Panel 16

(A woman with two men)

Text: Who you were with,

Panel 17

(Two men smiling and chatting)

Text: If you were flirting,

Panel 18

(A person holding a glass of beer)

Text: Or what substances you consumed…

Panel 19

Text: You did not ask to be raped, and you did not contribute to your rape.

Panel 20

(Two androgynous figures – one looking withdrawn, the other looking angry)

Text: There is no right or wrong way to react to being raped,

Panel 21

Text: But if you know or suspect that you have been raped, or know or suspect that someone you know has been raped please refer to the resources for rape survivors below:

National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1(800)656-4673

Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network:

RAINN.org

Office for Victims of Crime:

OVC.gov

To learn more about this topic, check out:

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Alli was a Contributing Comic Artist for Everyday Feminism from 2015 to 2017. They are the creator of the webcomic PunkPuns and the vocalist of the L.A. queer feminist punk band P.I.T. Alli has a degree in English Literature, which is cheerfully wasted in pop literary criticism discourse on Tumblr.