I FELT LIKE A SLUT - THE CULTURAL-CONTEXT AND WOMENS RESPONSE TO BEING RAPED

This paper examines how cultural beliefs (cultural constructions) abou t women influence how women survivors of rape make sense of their trau matic experience. A thematic content analysis of interviews with femal e survivors of rape was undertaken to provide a systematic description of the phenomenology of the experience. This paper reports on one maj or finding which highlighted the ways in which cultural beliefs about women, sexuality, and rape become salient to women, and are accessed b y them as they struggle to bring meaning to the experience of being ra ped. The nature of these beliefs and their implications for response a nd recovery are discussed.