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Date rape
Anna Maria-Mora, counselling psychologist, speaks at her office at Families in Action on April 28. Patricia St Bernard, executive director of the Rape Crisis Society, speaks at an interview at her office on April 26.
BY AVALENE HARRIS.
Date rape happens. Sandy (not her real name) was a victim of it. Forty-year-old Sandy was a widow when she let in her former �outside lover� into her life. Rape, as stated in Section 3 of the Sexual Offences Act of 2000, is a grievous sexual assault on either a female or male without their consent.
She added that the rapist may drug his prey in an attempt to take advantage of them. She said that women should be more observant of their surroundings. �Never leave your drinks unattended. They may get spiked,� she added. Counselling psychologist Anna Maria Mora believes teenagers who date on a one-on-one basis are putting themselves at risk of being victims of date rape. In an interview at her office at Families in Action, Maraval Road, Port-of-Spain on April 28, Mora said that the reason the incidence of date rape was so high among teenagers was because of a lack of parental guidance. �Parents should supervise their children whenever they go out and not send them out alone. �It is not appropriate for young girls to be allowed to go to the movies, parties or even at the malls alone. �Parents must learn to control and monitor their children�s actions.� She said some of the side effects that rape victims suffer were depression, emotional disorders, sleeping disorders, suicide attempts and self-mutilation. �The child�s self-esteem would be also eroded. �They may question themselves and feel guilty, thinking that their lives are worthless,� she said. �They need to report the matter to the police, so charges can be brought against the offender and have them placed behind bars, as to prevent them from doing the same to someone else,� said St Bernard.
Types of rape.
Date rape
Attempted rape
Marital rape
Stranger rape
Acquaintance rape
Gang rape
Judging by the statistics of the Rape Crisis Society stranger rape was the most reported of the six categories for 2004, followed by acquaintance rape.
Quoting from the society�s annual report for 2004, St Bernard said that there were a total of 259 reported cases of rape, which comprised old and new cases.
