Quote Originally Posted by ceegee{Benz} View Post
Well I have been pondering over this ever since ID started the thread.

Virtual rape isnt really possible as rape as we know it. When we hear the words RAPE we automactically associate it with forms of unconsented sexual acts to another human being. But rape comes in main forms. It is abuse..a violation of another human being.
This is where it gets confused on the net. People can abuse and do abuse others on the net...not physically but mentally to the point it affects that person's everyday life. As it does a person who has been Raped in the real world.

To understand rape is to have lived it and for those who havent...they can only try to understand what that person has been through. The emotional damage...the physical damage and the mental damage is ...well... there are no words to describe it. And the memories do not go away...it is always there with you for the rest of your life. Any one little thing can trigger off the memory of that event, whether it be a certain smell, a certain place, a name anything at all.
And to top it off..if and when a rapist is convicted and sent down for however long...for them and the jury it is all done and dusted.
But what about the victim????
They have to live with what was done for the rest of thier lives.

ceegee

I think this covers my view of it.
If the receipent veiws it as abusive...
If it isn't just a matter of cutting off the window or shutting down the pc...
Then it has crossed a line that the being merely online.
for many .. Online is as real as real life. It depends upon that persons views.
Online relationships can be just as close as real life, even crossing over into real life with face-to-face meetings.
I do not draw such distinctions.
so a mental/virtual rape could/would be criminal IMM.
I'm sure Rape victims would view it's occurence as just as harmful.
And with my understanding of traumatic experiences it would add to anything previously.. so would be even more harmful.