premiere hotch speculation

[ohshiznaps.livejournal.com]

This was discussed briefly on the episode discussion post, but i felt it needed it's own as it could be a HUGE added pain for our beloved leader.

The reaper, Hotch... was there a rape? it was most definitely insinuated, but i felt it was more of a "wait, WHAT?!" moment that passed to quickly to get  a full read on the situation.

im thinking no. if it had, i feel they would have put in more content to support it. all we really saw was a stab that looked below the belt. and the reaper was still fully in pants through the whole thing. 

unless it's something hotch blocked from his memory...

does anyone remember what the reaper said to him? about stabbing being a substitute for sex?

  if this has been discussed or anything already, feel free to mod it up.

Comments

[britmandelo.livejournal.com]

That's probably my issues talking, as a sexual assault survivor. It might not be legally the same but I honestly think our legal definitions of "rape" are extremely out of date. (That's a whole other debate though.)

From Hotch's point of view and how it will affect his character development--it's not going to make a huge amount of difference whether or not there was penile penetration involved. The damage, the trauma, is pretty much the same. It's about the loss of control and the sexualization/objectification the person suffers. (After all, in the average rape, there is very little "physical damage" done. It is a small percentage, one that gets much more attention, where the victim is beaten/stabbed/etc.)

[dragonladyk.livejournal.com]

It might not be legally the same but I honestly think our legal definitions of "rape" are extremely out of date.

Word. Object penetration, physical penetration, molestation, sexual humiliation: either way sex is being used as a weapon against the victim.

DragonLady

[yamair.livejournal.com]

From Hotch's point of view and how it will affect his character development--it's not going to make a huge amount of difference whether or not there was penile penetration involved.

I agree entirely. My initial reaction was he's been psychologically raped, he has suffered a form of rape, but then I came here and got into the whole legal definition debate.

I guess I'd say that any form of sexual assault is psychological rape, but because rape itself is a defined act - and I believe unconsented penetration should be a defined act - I wouldn't agree with equating the two. That's an issue of semantics really, at the end of the day I don't think experiencing one rather than the other is less likely to leave you feeling traumatised, all of it is extremely damaging.

But also, this is why I think the scene is so powerful without the physical act. It's challenging our understanding of both the physical and psychological worlds. For me the scene proved that psychological rape is not confined to physical rape, it is an act of sexual assault in of itself.