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Rape paralysis
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Rape paralysis
In human sexuality, paralysis, also known as rape paralysis, involuntary paralysis, fright (or faint), or tonic immobility, is a natural bodily survival reaction which can be automatically activated by the brain of a person who feels threatened by sexual violence. During this paralysis, one cannot move and cannot say anything, until one feels safe enough again. This survival reaction is a reflex; it automatically occurs without one's conscious choice, and one cannot stop it from happening. Paralysis is a survival reaction which the brain applies to the body whenever all other options to avoid sexual violence (prevent, freeze (hypervigilance), flight, fight, compromise) have been exhausted.
In modern science, increasingly more is understood about when, how, and why paralysis occurs. However, public awareness about paralysis is still limited, which has negative consequences for the prevention, punishment and processing of sexual violence. Paralysis is sometimes also called freezing, although scholars prefer avoiding this word usage to prevent confusion with the 'freeze' (hypervigilance) response that usually precedes it (see below).
In the scientific and scholarly literature, distinctions are made between several survival reactions which humans (and sometimes non-human animals) either consciously or unconsciously employ in order to survive when confronted with a potentially life-threatening situation. Terms used include:
In 1988, American psychologist J. A. Gray was the first to propose the sequence freeze, flight, fight, fright. He built on the existing concept in psychology (and later biology) of combing the responses flight and fight as a "fight-or-flight response" (first suggested by psychologist Walter Bradford Cannon in 1929; later scientists concluded that the usual sequence is first flight, and only then fight). A person sometimes still has the option of trying to keep the peace and negotiate a compromise with the person threatening them; by cooperating and offering concessions, the threatened person thereby tries to contain the damage that the aggressor is seeking to inflict on them. Paralysis or tonic immobility is the action threatened humans and animals perform whenever all other options have been exhausted: in physical contact with the aggressor, they pretend that they are dead, and thus attempt to survive the dangerous situation. Burgess & Holstrom (1976) proposed the term rape paralysis as a synonym; in the early 21st century the term tonic immobility became more common. Dutch psychologist Agnes van Minnen (2017) proposed prevent or avoid (voorkomen) as an extra strategy which precedes freeze or hypervigilance: try to prevent/avoid ending up in dangerous situations in the first place.
In child psychology, the terms freezing or freeze have sometimes been applied to the last phase of fright (tonic immobility, paralysis), but because the earlier phase of freeze (hypervigilance, being alert) has already been described by that word in ethology, this has caused a lot of confusion.
There is a fixed logic behind this sequence of survival reactions: the brain automatically considers all available options, according to the order of the reaction leading to the smallest risk of damage to the body to the reaction with the most risk. As soon as danger is detected, all possibilities are considered, and the safest available option is often employed unconsciously within milliseconds as a reflex. Paralysis is employed whenever all other options have been exhausted, and the brain decides to undergo the looming sexual violence in hopes of protecting the body against death. For example, if the threatened person would run too great a risk of being killed by trying to fight back against the aggressor, the brain could decide on paralysis in order to allow the body to survive. Aside from humans, tonic immobility is also a survival response in all other mammals, which is applied whenever fleeing or fighting would increase the risk of dying and would therefore not be the best options (anymore). Therefore, scientists think that tonic immobility as a survival response is the best explanation of why some humans paralyse when threatened by or during sexual violence.
A 2017 Scandinavian study reported that 70% of the 298 women who had visited an emergency clinic within a month of experiencing sexual violence had experienced 'significant tonic immobility' (paralysis) when it happened. 48% even reported 'extreme tonic immobility' during the sexual assault. Moreover, 189 (almost two-thirds) of the women developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depression.
In modern societies, a large portion of the population does not yet know what paralysis (sometimes called freezing) is, when it happens and how often. For example, a 2021 Dutch survey of I & O Research commissioned by Amnesty International involving 1,059 Dutch-speaking students showed that 22% had never heard of freezing (in the sense of 'paralysis') before, and 25% had heard of it, but did not know exactly what it meant; the remaining 53% did know. 59% of the students aged 18 or younger did not know what it was; 42% had never even heard of it. However, the older the students, the more they knew about it (61% of those aged 25 and older knew what paralysis). Moreover, only 33% of the students who did not know from personal experience or from others what sexual penetration without consent was, knew what freezing was. The survey also showed that 29% of the men had never heard of it (26% had, but did not know what it was), while only 15% of women had never heard of it (23% did, without knowing what it was). Finally, many students found that someone should clearly say 'no' if they do not want sexual penetration, even if they knew what paralysis was and that a paralysed person is unable to say 'no'. The biggest difference was between the 145 women who knew what paralysis was and found that you (therefore) do not have to say 'no' if you do not want sex (36% of all women who knew what paralysis was) and the 91 men who had never heard of paralysis and found that you should clearly say 'no' if you do not want sex (77% of all men who had never heard of paralysis).
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Rape paralysis
In human sexuality, paralysis, also known as rape paralysis, involuntary paralysis, fright (or faint), or tonic immobility, is a natural bodily survival reaction which can be automatically activated by the brain of a person who feels threatened by sexual violence. During this paralysis, one cannot move and cannot say anything, until one feels safe enough again. This survival reaction is a reflex; it automatically occurs without one's conscious choice, and one cannot stop it from happening. Paralysis is a survival reaction which the brain applies to the body whenever all other options to avoid sexual violence (prevent, freeze (hypervigilance), flight, fight, compromise) have been exhausted.
In modern science, increasingly more is understood about when, how, and why paralysis occurs. However, public awareness about paralysis is still limited, which has negative consequences for the prevention, punishment and processing of sexual violence. Paralysis is sometimes also called freezing, although scholars prefer avoiding this word usage to prevent confusion with the 'freeze' (hypervigilance) response that usually precedes it (see below).
In the scientific and scholarly literature, distinctions are made between several survival reactions which humans (and sometimes non-human animals) either consciously or unconsciously employ in order to survive when confronted with a potentially life-threatening situation. Terms used include:
In 1988, American psychologist J. A. Gray was the first to propose the sequence freeze, flight, fight, fright. He built on the existing concept in psychology (and later biology) of combing the responses flight and fight as a "fight-or-flight response" (first suggested by psychologist Walter Bradford Cannon in 1929; later scientists concluded that the usual sequence is first flight, and only then fight). A person sometimes still has the option of trying to keep the peace and negotiate a compromise with the person threatening them; by cooperating and offering concessions, the threatened person thereby tries to contain the damage that the aggressor is seeking to inflict on them. Paralysis or tonic immobility is the action threatened humans and animals perform whenever all other options have been exhausted: in physical contact with the aggressor, they pretend that they are dead, and thus attempt to survive the dangerous situation. Burgess & Holstrom (1976) proposed the term rape paralysis as a synonym; in the early 21st century the term tonic immobility became more common. Dutch psychologist Agnes van Minnen (2017) proposed prevent or avoid (voorkomen) as an extra strategy which precedes freeze or hypervigilance: try to prevent/avoid ending up in dangerous situations in the first place.
In child psychology, the terms freezing or freeze have sometimes been applied to the last phase of fright (tonic immobility, paralysis), but because the earlier phase of freeze (hypervigilance, being alert) has already been described by that word in ethology, this has caused a lot of confusion.
There is a fixed logic behind this sequence of survival reactions: the brain automatically considers all available options, according to the order of the reaction leading to the smallest risk of damage to the body to the reaction with the most risk. As soon as danger is detected, all possibilities are considered, and the safest available option is often employed unconsciously within milliseconds as a reflex. Paralysis is employed whenever all other options have been exhausted, and the brain decides to undergo the looming sexual violence in hopes of protecting the body against death. For example, if the threatened person would run too great a risk of being killed by trying to fight back against the aggressor, the brain could decide on paralysis in order to allow the body to survive. Aside from humans, tonic immobility is also a survival response in all other mammals, which is applied whenever fleeing or fighting would increase the risk of dying and would therefore not be the best options (anymore). Therefore, scientists think that tonic immobility as a survival response is the best explanation of why some humans paralyse when threatened by or during sexual violence.
A 2017 Scandinavian study reported that 70% of the 298 women who had visited an emergency clinic within a month of experiencing sexual violence had experienced 'significant tonic immobility' (paralysis) when it happened. 48% even reported 'extreme tonic immobility' during the sexual assault. Moreover, 189 (almost two-thirds) of the women developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depression.
In modern societies, a large portion of the population does not yet know what paralysis (sometimes called freezing) is, when it happens and how often. For example, a 2021 Dutch survey of I & O Research commissioned by Amnesty International involving 1,059 Dutch-speaking students showed that 22% had never heard of freezing (in the sense of 'paralysis') before, and 25% had heard of it, but did not know exactly what it meant; the remaining 53% did know. 59% of the students aged 18 or younger did not know what it was; 42% had never even heard of it. However, the older the students, the more they knew about it (61% of those aged 25 and older knew what paralysis). Moreover, only 33% of the students who did not know from personal experience or from others what sexual penetration without consent was, knew what freezing was. The survey also showed that 29% of the men had never heard of it (26% had, but did not know what it was), while only 15% of women had never heard of it (23% did, without knowing what it was). Finally, many students found that someone should clearly say 'no' if they do not want sexual penetration, even if they knew what paralysis was and that a paralysed person is unable to say 'no'. The biggest difference was between the 145 women who knew what paralysis was and found that you (therefore) do not have to say 'no' if you do not want sex (36% of all women who knew what paralysis was) and the 91 men who had never heard of paralysis and found that you should clearly say 'no' if you do not want sex (77% of all men who had never heard of paralysis).