WMN: t3_2gf3at_t1_ckijavy--TIO2

[TITLE]

CMV: The term "survivor" to refer to victims of sexual assault is inappropriate.

[jolly_walrus]

These people are definitely "victims," but in my opinion, referring to them as "survivors" is in many cases overly dramatic. They might be referred to as "survivors" if their lives legitimately came into jeopardy (if they were held at gunpoint, if they were severely physically assaulted, etc.), but most instances of rape (unwanted sexual advances isolated to a single instance) do not come attached with a serious possibility of death. Rape is definitely one of the worst things that can happen to somebody, but I think that "survivor" suggests that what happened to them was on the same level as living through a genocidal campaign, a terminal illness, a plane crash, or something else of the sort. The former is bad, but the latter are almost certainly worse. Rape victims calling themselves "survivors" takes attention away from more serious issues in which death is on the line. Again, rape is a very serious issue, but not as serious as issues that consistently result in death. _____ > *Hello, users of CMV! This is a footnote from your moderators. We'd just like to remind you of a couple of things. Firstly, please remember to* ***[read through our rules](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/rules)***. *If you see a comment that has broken one, it is more effective to report it than downvote it. Speaking of which,* ***[downvotes don't change views](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/guidelines#wiki_upvoting.2Fdownvoting)****! If you are thinking about submitting a CMV yourself, please have a look through our* ***[popular topics wiki](http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/wiki/populartopics)*** *first. Any questions or concerns? Feel free to* ***[message us](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/changemyview)***. *Happy CMVing!*

[DaeneryT]

how does a rape victim calling themselves a survivor take away attention from those that survived something else?

[Madplato]

There's no finite ammount of suffering and hardships in the world. You don't take anything away from anyone by calling yourself a survivor.

[jolly_walrus]

Maybe not, but a group that incorrectly uses an identifying term may take limited attention and resources away from another group that correctly uses the same identifying term. If rape victims literally believe themselves to be "survivors" to the same extent that living Rwandan Tutsis are, they are effectively attempting to redirect social and physical capital away from a group that needs it more. Thus, I think that there needs to be another term that acknowledges rape victims' plight, but does not equate them to "survivors." I'm not sure what term we would use, though.

[Listen_MyChild]

No one's mistaking a murder victim with a rape victim.

[Madplato]

Or we can distinguish between the two as you're doing yourself right now ? "I survived this car accident". We know you car accident isn't a genocide, yet you survived it nontheless. *Everybody* understand there's a difference.

[RidleyScotch]

[STA-CITE]>Rape victims calling themselves "survivors" takes attention away from more serious issues in which death is on the line. [END-CITE]Life and death can be on the line during rape. Rape is also a type of sexual assault. Assault is a physical attack, one survives physical attacks. One can survive a physical attack from somebody else just as you can survive an act of war on your town or an attack on your body by pathogen

[Listen_MyChild]

Murders after a raping are extremely common. They just get identified as murders.

[funchy]

If you listen to rape victims, you'll of the hear that they were so traumatized they wish they were dead. No amount of therapy in the world will undo the psychological harm inflicted on a rape victim. They're survivors because they faced one of the worse psychological horrors a person can face -- one that often makes one wish they were dead -- and they chose to continue with their life.

[Fate_Embraced]

From a practical sense, your understanding of the definition of the word "Survive" is inaccurate: Survive: - sur·vive - *verb* ~ continue to live or exist, especially in spite of danger ***or hardship***.   From a humanity standpoint... who cares? If a rape victim calling themselves a "survivor", in anyway helps to ease their suffering and helps them find some sense of stability, or even empowerment, then why should it matter? Survival is a binary state: you either do, or you don't, it's not a zero-sum game where each person who calls themselves a survivor leaves a little bit less "survivorship" for the next person.

[sweetmercy]

First, rape can and does result in death in some cases, but that isn't the point. Surviving something does not necessarily mean it has to result in imminent death. Rape kills souls. That isn't being dramatic, that is reality for many people who've been raped. Rape does not have to be compared to everything else to determine if it's "bad enough" to warrant a specific term. I SURVIVED my rape. My rapist's intention was to take my life, figuratively, possibly literally. How do I know? He said so. My rape came at a time when I was already dealing with major depression, and I very nearly took my own life after, and probably would have had it not been for someone who intervened. Who are you to tell me I'm not a survivor? I sure as hell am no victim.

[jolly_walrus]

Yeah, so I think the consensus from this thread is that "survivor" does not have as strict of a definition as I first set out, and that it can be an effective description of someone dealing with severe psychological/emotional trauma, such as a rape victim. I can see that. Have a ∆

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[kairisika]

To be a 'survivor' is to have 'survived' *something*. A rape survivor survived rape - that doesn't confuse them with a genocide survivor or a toe-stub survivor. To 'survive' is to make it past some ordeal. It does not require that the ordeal have been *life*-threatening.

[Raintee97]

The term victim is a passive term. Something was done to you and now you're dealing with it. The term survivor is an active term. You're actively doing something to get you past your situation. Often victims feel helpless and stripped of their power. The concept of them surviving what they are going through turns these feelings of powerlessness into a feeling of regaining power over a situation that happened to them. While it seems like a small difference, there is a major psychological difference between being a victim and being a survivor.

[Fimmschig]

The term survivor is not restricted to its immediate and literal meaning concerning life and death. It is frequently used for any situation where a significant hardship is overcome, and any other situation of metaphorical survivorship. For example, the "survivor" term is sometimes used in business, psychology, science and statistics ([Survivorship bias](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivorship_bias)). Additionally, there is no suitable synonym. "Victim" is not suitable because it doesn't convey that a hardship was overcome and outlived. It focuses on the victimization itself rather than the fact that the victimization lies in the past.

[notdomoduro]

Recoveree? Former victim? Yeah, there definitely isn't another word that seems to convey the same meaning. I agree with the OP that "survivor" doesn't exactly convey the right meaning either though, although unless we're going to invent a new word, I don't have a better idea.

[cdb03b]

Recoveree is not a real word.....

[notdomoduro]

Yeah, I didn't think so.

[zardeh]

That was his point. Recoveree was sarcastic, "there...meaning" was not.

[banjist]

In addition to the arguments others have presented, I'll show a paper staying that female victims of rape are 4x as likely to retort seriously considering suicide compared to the average female. Similar numbers are purebred for rates of ptsd and severe depression and substance abuse. I think these factors combined with the other arguments presented in the thread showing that using the term survivor doesn't really take anything away from others and that the weird itself has a less restrictive meaning than your OP suggests. https://www.musc.edu/vawprevention/research/mentalimpact.shtml

[andycb1991]

The term is highly beneficial to those who have experienced severe emotional trauma from rape, because it shows the possibility of hope for the survivor. "Victim" is a negative term that focuses on the trauma itself, while "survivor" dissociates the person from the power their assailant holds of them and encourages a life beyond the trauma. So, to relate that to the precise wording of your view, it might not be accurate in the traditional meaning of the word, but it is certainly "appropriate" because this is an example of the power of words and their utility in affecting things in people's lives.