SIGN IN YOUR ACCOUNT TO HAVE ACCESS TO DIFFERENT FEATURES

CREATE AN ACCOUNT FORGOT YOUR PASSWORD?

FORGOT YOUR DETAILS?

AAH, WAIT, I REMEMBER NOW!

CREATE ACCOUNT

ALREADY HAVE AN ACCOUNT?

IAHIP

CALL: +353 (0)1 284 1665
  • Contact Us
  • Classifieds
    • Publications
    • Services
    • Training
    • All Ads
    • Submit Ad
  • News
    • IAHIP News
    • Blog
  • Members
    • AGM 2020 & 2019
    • Events Calendar
    • Professional Conduct
    • Continued Professional Development -CPD- For Accredited Psychotherapists
    • Accreditation
    • Re-accreditation
    • Supervision
    • Honorary Membership
    • Child and Adolescent
    • Garda Vetting
    • Resources
      • Members’ Resources
    • Payments
  • SIGN UP
  • LOGIN
  • Home
  • About
    • About IAHIP
    • Governing Body
    • Committees
      • Committees
      • Regional Development
    • Complaints
    • Constitutional Documents
      • Articles of Association
      • Bye-Laws of the Association
    • IAHIP in N.I.
    • Considering a career in psychotherapy?
  • Psychotherapy
    • About Psychotherapy
    • How Psychotherapy Can Help Me
    • Choosing a Psychotherapist
    • Useful Links
  • Join
    • Join IAHIP
    • Why Join IAHIP?
    • Benefits of Membership of IAHIP
    • Categories of Membership
    • Fees
  • Publications
    • Inside Out
    • Subscribe
    • Buy Back Issues
    • Buy Full Page Ad
    • Buy Half Page Ad
    • Advertising
  • Training
    • Recognised Training Courses IAHIP
    • European Certificate of Psychotherapy (ECP)
  • Find a Therapist
  • Home
  • Inside Out
  • Issue 16: Spring 1994
  • Book Review: Women, Men and Rape

Book Review: Women, Men and Rape

Ray Wyre and Anthony Swift. 1990

Though it is a mere seventy-five pages long, this little book is an important landmark in work upon the subject of rape. Ray Wyre and Anthony Swift have seriously accepted the feminist analysis of rape: “Counselling of male sex offenders continually brings home the parallels between their attitudes and those of people who count themselves ordinary members of society”.

From this starting point, the main concern of the book is to provide information which will enable women and children to protect themselves and to be better protected against rape. It contains advice based on consider­able first-hand knowledge and research in clear and unambiguous, yet not sweeping, terms and in the process it brings into question most of the com­monly accepted notions about the crime. This advice seems to me to be so important that I am including it, in abbreviated form.

“… though rape is always a life-threatening experience, there are different types of sex offender – some of whom are less dangerous than others and more likely to be put off by various reactions of their victims”. (This vital advice is clearly detailed in Chapter Two, ‘Types of Sex Attacker”.)

“… rape is not a spontaneous act committed by a man in the grip of an uncon­trollable sexual urge, but is more often a much-rehearsed and fantasized attempt to wield power over another person”. (This theme crops up throughout the book, not just in Chapter Three, ‘The Rape Process”, is backed up with research examples and consciously complements the feminist analysis of rape.)

“… rape is not a single violent event … It is a complex mental, emotional and physical process in which, at every stage, the survivor can hope to retain some measure of control”. (Again the message to the victim is unambiguous – you can do something, at least to minimize the damage, in particular to avoid a fatal outcome.)

“… (To) suggest that women’s psychological and emotional reactions might help them exercise control more effectively than simply physical self-defence training”. (It is typical of Wyre’s approach that he constructively interprets his research in the interests of the (women) victims. There is a striking account of a woman who deterred the rapist from carrying through his attack when she said to him that “God loves you too, you know”.)

Throughout the book, the authors take a completely practical and cons­tructive attitude to the issue and in an extraordinary way, this somehow increases the shock of the examples – the human reality of the abusive relationship comes through with such clarity. I particularly appreciated this example, from the chapter on ‘The Rape and Sexual Assault of Children”.

… “Others claim that it was the child who seduced them, an argument that has also sometimes found support in the courts. One man … in a counselling session said that he had fallen asleep with his step-daughter on his lap and awoke to find her hand in his flies. It was she who had taken the initiative. Asked what he’d have done if he’d found her with her hand in his wallet, he responded promptly: ‘I’d have told her to leave it alone’.”

Mary Montaut

Search Inside Out

Latest from the Blog

Latest News

  • The CARI Foundation – Vacancy for National Head of Therapy
  • The Art of Wanting – Online Course, with Emma Philbin Bowman

Upcoming Events

Contact Us

The Administrator,
The Irish Association of Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy Ltd.
40 Northumberland Avenue,
Dun Laoghaire,
Co. Dublin

Telephone: +353 (0)1 284 1665
Email: admin@iahip.org

Office Hours

9.30am – 4.00pm Monday
9.30am – 5.00pm Tuesday to Friday

Telephone Line Answered
Monday – Friday 9.30am – 1.00pm.

Disclaimer

IAHIP Ltd. cannot be held liable for the services, products or information contained in ads posted on this website.

FIND A THERAPIST

Search in radius 0 miles
  • Contact Details
  • Privacy Statement
  • Code of Ethics for Psychotherapists
  • Company Registration

© 2018 All rights reserved.

TOP
This website uses cookies to enhance your browsing experience. Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.