Alice Sebold Tells About Rape in "Lucky"
A study by the U.S. Justice Department reports that about 3 percent of college women experienced a completed and/or attempted rape during the current college year. That accounts for about one out of four or five women on campuses. The report, The Sexual Victimization of College Women, offers a comprehensive look into the prevalence and nature of sexual assault occurring at American colleges. The data show that about 1.7 percent of female college students were victims of a completed rape, and about 1.1 percent of the victims were attempted rape. However, about 95 percent of these rapes go unreported, especially when the victim knows the rapist. The reasons for keeping quiet include guilt, embarrassment, trauma, fear of reprisals and/or not being believed because of alcohol use or knowing the assailant. Some women even think that it is not serious enough a crime to report. In addition, universities are not doing all they can to address the problem. Only about a third of schools report crime data in a way that fully complies with federal laws. Also, only one in four provide safety training to residence hall staff, hire security staff for dorms, or require overnight guests to register, federal researchers found.
e Sebold, who reported her college rape in Lucky, was one of these women in the statistics noted above. Graham about her experiences, and the doctor responded: "Well, I guess this will make you less inhibited about sex now, huh?" (77) Worse, Sebold did not know what to do with her own feelings. This complicates an already complicated situation. She reread letters and journal entries and the transcripts of the rape trial, and returned to Syracuse University and talked to the former assistant district attorney who helped to prosecute the accused and guilty man. Second, because Sebold mentally survived her ordeal. She told it all, from the horrible act itself to her dealing with post-trauma stress disorder with drug abuse, to her "independence" about ten years later. She was not able to deal totally with the trauma and handle the memories for over a decade. Conclusion Lucky, much more so than Lovely Bones, is a book that should be on the best seller list. This allowed her to tell her story in great detail. They also questioned her actions when looking at the lineup of possible offenders. Sebold was "lucky" for two reasons: First, because she survived the rape. She stated that she quickly learned that "no one-including females--knew what to do with a rape victim. The fact that Sebold's true rape and close-to-death experience did not make the best seller list, but a fictionalized story about rape did, is disconcerting. Rather, most of today's student rape victims actually know their offenders.
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Acceptance Essays
