The Second Rape: Society's Continued Betrayal of the Victim

by Lee Madigan, Nancy Gamble

Discusses the subtle way in which victims encounter a second rape by the people who are suppose to help the individuals overcome the trauma of the first rape

Genres: Feminism, Nonfiction, Womens

154 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1991

Reviews

[Eli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the most incisive analysis in existence about the retraumatisation of rape victims after they disclose / attempt to prosecute. This is combined with a lot of eye-raising stuff about propriety and race - they’ve picked ‘respectable’ white women who were mostly raped by men of colour. The recommendations are understandably pragmatic but also kind of insulting.

[Meagan Cumbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Important analysis of the ways the average person perpetuates rape as acceptable in society, along with highlighting the lack of empathy in legal and medical procedures for victims, that mostly haven’t changed today. However this book suffers from racial stereotypes of its time in regard to its chosen perpetrators and complete lack of poc survivors testimonies.

[Mandy Partridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Madigan and Gamble outline the verbal and psychological assault dished out by police officers and defence lawyers, if a rape survivor chooses to report rape and press charges.
This cross-cultural survey of rape crime and medical data shows us how our Criminal Justice System is always on the side of the rapist, that men are seen as honest, and women as liars, even if the man is a serial rapists with dozens of women accusing him.
The patriarchy has such biased rape laws that rape has the lowest rates of reporting, and conviction, with only ten to thirty percent of rapes reported to police, then only a ten percent chance of conviction. Most rapists walk free to rape again their whole lives, with 90% of arrested rapists being repeat offenders.
It seems that it's hard to convict a rapist unless he bashes or kills the victim as well, these assaults being viewed as more 'serious' crimes than rape.
With patriarchy engrained in the legal justice system, it's no wonder we get serial rapists as Attorney General and in the Government Ministers' offices in Australia. Serial rapists know they can get away with it while they climb the corporate and government ladders, while their victim will never get a decent job again, have to change their names and move overseas...
Not much has changed in the 30 years since this book was written.

[May · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book that is outdated and muddied in message but still has worth. The last part of the book tries and fails to really understand the damage done to victims of rape and gets even more muddied by insisting on the feminine divine being what could fix society. The more factual chapters on the legal and medical system, while outdated, were informative and clear and would be a good resource for someone looking to learn about the many, many ways these systems fail victims. There was a surprising amount of racism throughout and the victims interviewed for the book woefully non-diverse. It paints a very limited picture of the ways rape functions in society. But while I am disappointed it's not without merit and I did learn some new things.

[Adrienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't what I was expecting. However, it was an interesting read. I read it slowly but it would be very easy to read quite fast.

I think there are a lot of women and most men that would benefit from reading this book and realizing how rape is viewed in our culture and what it means to an individual. The what needs to happen at the end, both as a list for a woman who is raped and also for men and women to change in their attitudes was very good.