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This paper discusses (1) how my own interest in the treatment of sexual assault victims developed and how I view the scope of this problem; (2) myths and facts about sexual assault; (3) common reactions of those who work with rape victims; (4) the rape trauma syndrome; (5) an approach to immediate and short-term treatment; and (6) the long-term effects of sexual assault and related treatment issues.
My own interest in the treatment of sexual assault developed about three years ago when I was a consultant to a feminist peer counseling service on the Columbia University Campus, The Women's Counseling Project. I noted that the young counselors here saw a number of women from the community who had been sexually assaulted. Then I was asked to see a foreign student who had been brutally raped in the dormitory and had been hospitalized. I became aware of my own anxiety in anticipating seeing this patient and my own wishes to avoid hearing the story. Despite my interest in women's issues and problems, I felt relatively ignorant about how to help. I think these experiences sensitized me so that I responded when women at the Project and in the community suggested we might try to get a program started to help rape victims