GEORGE TOWN: She told a friend “everything is okay” through a phone but in actual fact, she was being raped.
The victim, in her teens, was just introduced to the man and was told to follow him to the car to pick up something.
As he was introduced to her by a mutual friend, she followed him without suspicion. Little did she expect what was to happen.
During
the rape, a friend called her and the perpetrator asked her to answer
the call and signalled her to say “everything is all right”.
She did as told.
Under normal circumstances, common sense tells us to scream or cry for help.
But
the victim exhibited what is known as counter intuitive behaviour and
according to Women's Centre for Change (WCC) advocacy officer Melissa
Mohd Akhir, such behaviour prompted the victim to do something that
might not be in keeping with normal demeanour - like delay in reporting
the case to the authority or not fighting back during the assault.
“Victims would behave in such a way as they are going through such a traumatic experience that causes them to “freeze”.
“Such
behaviour is largely due to fear and the trauma itself,” the former
deputy public prosecutor (DPP) explained in an interview at WCC's
premise in Burma Road yesterday.
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