By Catherine
I had a lunch date with a guy I really liked and then went back to his house. We were kissing and then I told him I was a virgin and he said that that was fine and we would do whatever I was comfortable with. We continued kissing and started undressing. We were half naked and he put me on my back and came towards me slowly, didn’t say anything and forced himself on me. I pushed him off me halfway through and he asked me if I was sad.
The acceptance of the rape shattered me. I became extremely depressed and suicidal and almost jumped in front of a train. I had to be hospitalised and started a suicide attempt in hospital. The rape combined with my bipolar disorder made for an extremely traumatic and difficult two months.
I was blamed by people who told me that if you get naked with a guy you should expect them to have sex you. I was also told that as I liked him and I dated him, although he forced himself on me, it “didn’t count” as rape.
I asked him if we had had sex when I met up with him a time after, as I was in denial about the rape and had tried to convince myself I had consented. I also think it was because I had been sexually assaulted in the past and so had skewed ideas about consent. I asked him after dinner and once we in his house if we had had sex and he said no. I then got very sad and cried a lot. I asked him eventually what he was thinking and he said he was scared and that he forced himself on me and attempted to rape me. I told him that it wasn’t attempted rape but rape due to the fact penetration occurred.