“Silent All These Years”: Unpacking Victim Narratives Rochelle Plummer 1253002 Justice Studies Senior Seminar: Victimology JUST 4010 Prof. Laura MacDiarmid March 7th 2024 Introduction and Overview Grey's Anatomy, a popular medical drama television series, has often delved into complex social issues alongside medical cases. Season 15, Episode 19, titled "Silent All These Years," tackles the sensitive topic of sexual assault and its aftermath. In this paper, we will provide a comprehensive analysis of the victim narratives portrayed in this episode, examining their multifaceted nature, socio-cultural contexts, and implications for victimology. The purpose of this analysis is to explore the portrayal of victimhood in the context of sexual assault …show more content…
This episode navigates the emotional aftermath of sexual violence while highlighting the trauma experienced by the victim and the challenges faced when seeking justice. The patient in this episode (Abby) was raped when she went to a bar after fighting with her husband over laundry. She came into the hospital with a cheek laceration and bumped into a doctor who helped her find the emergency room. Upon Jo examining Abby’s wound, she noticed that Abby would not let go of Jo’s hand and that Abby was trying to hide abdominal pain. After further questioning, Jo found bruising on Abby's neck and stomach. Abby was moved to a private examination room where Jo and another Doctor convinced Abby to tell them what happened and to do a rape kit. It is important to note that Abby’s initial hesitation to even tell her doctors about her experiences and injuries shows how severe and paralyzing fear and shame can be in situations regarding sexual …show more content…
The devastating news brought Jo into deep depression and she began isolating herself, even from her new husband. The episode highlights the complexities of victimhood by showcasing different responses to sexual assault, including denial, shame, empowerment and solidarity. With reference to socio-cultural contexts that shape the narratives, the show explores aspects such as societal attitudes towards sexual violence, gender norms and institutional responses to survivors. This episode of Grey’s Anatomy sheds light on the systemic inequalities within the criminal justice system and the barriers survivors face in accessing support and resources. Taking from theoretical considerations of victimology literature, it is important to visualize the parallels between the experiences shown in the episode and broader conversations about trauma, healing and social justice. Concepts like intersectionality, secondary victimization, and the importance of trauma-informed care resonate with the portrayal of sexual assault survivors in the episode. Reflection After viewing the episode “Silent All These Years”, I can say that it has influenced my understanding of sexual assault and its impact on survivors. The episode raises awareness about the prevalence of sexual violence and the need for compassionate and supportive responses. I noticed that it centres victim voices and sheds light on the importance of validating and believing a victim’s experience. In contrast, the episode
According to the FBI, more than 75 percent of all murder victims are women, and more than 50 percent of the women are between the ages of 14 and 29 years old. A part of that statistic is Kitty Genovese,a murder victim who is the focus of an editorial, “The Dying Girl that No One Helped,” written by Loudon Wainwright. Kitty was a 28 year old woman who was brutally stabbed to death while on her way home from work. The woman, named Kitty Genovese, lived in a pleasant, welcoming, residential area, in New York. There was at least 38 witnesses that came forward, and they all heard her cries for help, but no one came to her aid. Wainwright effectively demonstrates how society has started turning a “blind-eye” toward problems that can endanger someone's
“Often it isn’t the initiating trauma that creates seemingly insurmountable pain, but the lack of support after.” (Harrell) There is a lot of trauma a victim of sexual assault goes through. This trauma can last years if not dealt with properly, in fact, ninety-four percent of women who are raped experience post-traumatic stress disorder and seventy percent of victims experience moderate to severe distress. Melinda Sordino is also a victim of sexual assault, she’s seen going through the life of a grade nine girl trying to fit into a new environment, make new friends, and find herself, all while coping with her past. Melinda’s distant relationship with her parents leads to her lack of confidence to ask for support and becomes one of the major
An unwelcome sisterhood.” Now, the story is about these women and the thousands of women like them who have suffered sexual assault and all it incumbent pain.(LA Times). Thirty-five women have given voice and power to the thousands of women who have hidden their sexual assault due to fear shame, fear, confusion, a desire to put it behind them, or misguided loyalty; it empowers even those who came forward with their rape allegations. Draped in black, the color of loss, the picture powerfully illustrates that sexual assault victims are from all walks of life. These women allege that their assaults took place when they were young, and middle aged, while they were in college, while they were working; while they were mothers, when they were childless.
Due to advances made by the American mass media, the way Americans react to and interact with rape culture has changed dramatically changed from 1960 to the present. News coverage of major rape trials, movies and books involving rape have caused the American people to change their perspectives and reshape the way trials are carried out and the way female rape victims are viewed and treated during and after trials. During the 1960’s, due to societal and religious conventions, a victim’s history, chastity, and moral character were brought to light to serve as attestation against the claimant. After the feminist movement took off in the 1970’s, laws regarding this topic began to change drastically and hard facts and witnesses began being used to determine outcomes of cases. Although news stations, movies, and novels can further new ideas and offer the American people an insight into rape law and culture reform, they often set some of the forward progress back by promoting “traditional” views of rape, rape culture, and rape myths, in which the victim is made into a provocateur. In order to prevent this heinous crime from occuring, or at least reduce the ever increasing number of incidents, Americans must take it upon themselves to become educated upon the topic of rape. This means that they must collectively decide to see only the facts presented in a case, tell the difference between truth and rape myths perpetuated by society, and understand the long term and short term effects experienced by victims before, during, and after the trial, regardless of the situation.
After being sexually assaulted, a victim herself, Annalise Mabe, on her article “You should have been more careful: when doctors shame rape survivors”, expressed her anger and concerns towards how doctors approach patients that have been sexually assaulted. Her explanation and tone make her seem trustworthy and credible.
Throughout history, there have been many types of oppression. Oppression occurs when someone is viewed as a lesser human in a way that makes the suppressor feel superior (Oppression, slide 5 and 6). Always, the person who is doing the suppressing is viewed as the terrible human being. However, humans are equally guilty when they sit back and do not do anything. Doing nothing is a way of encouraging the oppression that is occurring. The only way to change the cycle of oppression is speaking up and out against what is wrong. Thus, binary ideology can only be challenged when the individual silence is broken; the effect will be the increased visibility of others.
Rape Trauma Syndrome (n.d.). In Giving Support. Aiding Recovery. Seeking Justice. . Retrieved April 8, 2014
In a study done by The Journal of Clinical Psychology, “the primary reason for not reporting seemed to combine a type of guilt with embarrassment.” With the help of utilizing support groups, clubs, and other programs among college campuses that are designed to make the victim’s experience a little easier, the victims may not feel as embarrassed to come out and may feel safer in their decision to move forward with their case. One of the most notable effects of rape is the psychological impact that it has on the victim immediately as well as long-term. Many victims feel depression, anxiety, and other sudden onset mental illnesses as a result of their attack and can last for years post-attack. The Journal of Interpersonal Violence reported that in their study of 95 victims over a 12 week long period, “by 3 months post-crime 47% still met the full criteria for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.” This prolonged experience of emotional trauma can weaken the person’s overall mental wellbeing and cause the trauma to stick with them for the rest of their lives, especially if there are no support resources around them. As cited in the Journal of Clinical Psychology study previously, the number one reason for not reporting is the feeling of embarrassment which causes the victims to not talk about their experience and to shut out those around
“Sexual assault of women by strangers is but one aspect of the larger set of sexual violence related problems”. Dedel (2011) Sexual assault is a crime of violence that comes from the offender’s need to exercise power and control over the victim. They feel that taking something by force is them being in control it is a satisfaction to the victim. Sexual assault can be defined as any type of non-consensual sexual contact. Survivors usually feel shame, embarrassment and fear. Some victim’s fear that nobody is going to believe them, they are afraid they will be blamed for what happened and unfortunately they don’t report the crime. Survivors of sexual assault are more...
Tragedies happen every day; we know some of these victims, we have heard the stories, and we have witnessed the tears shed. Tim Piazza, 19 year old sophomore at Penn State, fell head first down a flight of stairs after a hazing event at a fraternity. The fraternity brothers called the authorities almost 12 hours after he had fallen, later Piazza passed away at the local hospital (Flanagan, par. 1). As for the Stanford Rape Case, a 23 year old woman dubbed “Emily Doe” by the media was raped by a 20 year old Brock Turner after attending a party on campus. Emily Doe’s blood-alcohol level was three times over the legal limit while Brock Turner’s was double the legal limit (Koren, par.
Some of these effects include, however are not limited to: shock, denial, depression, attempted or completed suicide, alienation, fear, anxiety, and guilt (CDC). With the weight of all of these emotions, it’s not surprising to think that someone would become so distraught. Having had the opportunity to interview a rape victim, whom will be called Jane, it has become apparent that rape can be paralyzing. The interviewee has gone on to attend therapy sessions, as well as distrusting any person who comes into her life. In addition, Jane went as far as to explain what it felt like to experience such
There are many different types of victims we have discussed over the course of this class, but we’re only going to talk about two types in the following paper. These two types of victims are common just as any another victim across America. These include sex assault victims and child abuse victims, which are both primary victims in cases. The two share a tie together, both are a victim of abuse and can cause lifelong consequences, but they also pose many differences as well. Many questions arise when talking about victims, for example why is a child or adult being abused and what are the life altering affects to these actions. Throughout this paper we discuss both sexual assault victims and child abuse victims and compare and contrast between the two.
Sexual violence has significant long-term consequences for women’s role in society. Survivors of sexual violence tend to experience long term and short term emotional, physical, psychological, and reproductive health problems. Thousands of women are being sexually abused every year by both people they know and don’t know, with the help of date rape drugs, on college campuses, and even in domestic relationships. In America, there are around 321,500 victims of sexual abuse, and every 98 seconds an American is violated.
Society’s view of rape is that it only occurs at night to women in dark alleys by men they have never seen or met before. In reality there are two types of rape in which the victim knows the attacker. One of these is known as Acquaintance rape and the other being marital rape. All forms of rape have long term impacts on the victims, for a victim of acquaintance rape they can feel especially shameful if the attacker was a relative or superior at school or work. For victims of marital rape the assaults can be violent including verbal and physical abuse. In marital rape do to the fact the victim is married to their attacker it can lead to displacement, divorce, and codependency.
Male Victims and the Law The issue of the neglect of male victims is not only on societal issue but it’s also become a political issue. Law has the ability to be protector enabler or bystander. In regards to male victims as many other things it would seem to be all three. Our laws protect men just as they do women but as we attempt to move away from a patriarchal society it’s not that we exclude men from law so much as we further shade women as the most vulnerable in society once again making the concept of men as victims more and more of a foreign concept.