Last night she would normally have been out on the town with her friends. As a double rape survivor she kept trying to tell herself that she had almost recovered. Almost, but not quite. The experience of testifying at the trial and listening to the other witnesses, brought it all flooding back. And now when she should have been out having a good time, she was sitting at her friend’s home feeling miserable and depressed. She was staying with her friend Linda for the duration of the trial. At the end of the trial she would go back to her parents and try and get on with her life. Not that she was sure what “getting on with her life” meant any more. She had planned to go back to college. But the idea no longer held its appeal. She couldn’t face people after the rape – the second rape. She couldn’t face men. She had gone out on a few dates since the rape, but they always made her feel cheap and dirty. Not that they were aggressive. Most of them went out of their way to be respectful, almost to the point of timidity.
