Another coping mechanism is to minimize it. “It wasn’t actually rape” or “at least they didn’t beat me/choke me” etc. They tell themself it wasn’t actually a big deal bc actually admitting to themselves that what they went through was deeply traumatic can be absolutely crushing and can sometimes push them over the edge. As much as we want sa survivors to report the perpetrators so they can (unfortunately hopefully) be arrested, their focus is and should be their own health and well-being. Tho means that sometimes people are only able to speak up a long time after