Rape takes away a woman's dignity, her sexuality

Rape is defined as a sexual act with a person without their consent. The ingredient of rape is that there is penetration and that there is no consent. For children, it is called defilement because it lacks the concept of consent as a child cannot be held accountable to agree to a sexual act. 

The impact of rape on the victim is life-long and causes trauma and frigidity. It can scare one from entering into marriage or having any meaningful sexual relationships.  

If a rape victim gets married, the trauma can develop into a phobia that makes her less interested or unwilling to engage in sexual activity with her partner.

Rape is seen as a very degrading type of offence.

It has been used as a weapon in warfare. An occupying army will rape women as a way of demeaning the opponent. Rape impacts not only an individual but others as well.

The scar is not only for the victim but relatives and the community as a whole because rape goes against public morality. 

There is also the risk of infection. Some people who have been diagnosed with sexual diseases, to take revenge on humanity, commit rape to spread the diseases. 

Besides risking sexually transmitted infections, some women lose their virginity. 

Rape can also tear families apart. If a wife is raped, generally, their husbands do not believe them. They believe their wives willingly slept with their attackers and out of fear the information will come out, claim they were raped.

Rape can also lead to death. Some women cannot cope with the trauma and may resort to suicide, harming themselves or terminating pregnancies resulting from the attack. 

Some women kill babies conceived from such circumstances as revenge or to remove any reminder of the attack.

The dignity of a woman is her sexuality. For women, it is such a critical issue and that is what formed the basis for the Sexual Offences Act.

The lawyer spoke to the Star