Quite obviously I have too much time on my hands. I do try to keep my mind stimulated while my body heals. So I have come up with this. It didn't take much thought.
When thinking about how say Cancer patients(only an example) are treated versus someone who has suffered from a trauma (i.e rape or domestic violence) there appears to be a huge engulfing divide. From all my readings, and from personal experiences if you are a victim of a crime especially a woman you may almost be treated as a leper. The leper status may come from friends, or family, even from police to medical staff. There can be allot of blame laid on the head of a victim even in a court room. You don't see a cancer patient having to stand up against a medical panel to justify how they have suffered from Cancer? Well do you? No. Yet in both situations they are a victim of what has been done to them.
If you have cancer (just an example) you generally are heaped with empathy, their is a ton of support both physical and psychological. I know this may not always be the case I am generalising. I have seen people walk the path of cancer. A truly scary journey. The same is said for a victim of a crime. To get to the point I will outline the differences. In both cases neither party has bought this upon themselves.
1. A Cancer patient may be facing death/ a Victim of a Crime(V.O.C) may be facing death. Explanation The initial trauma may involve a threat of death, there may be a disease linked to the assault such as infection from H.I.V or Hep C from the criminal involved. Or the Trauma may lead the person to committing suicide if they are severely effected.
2. The cancer patient may face a lifetime of fear, or anxiety or depression related to their condition./The V.O.C may face the same.
3. There may be long term psychological effects from a diagnosis of cancer re body image, and self esteem/ The V.O.C may face the same.
4. There may be a grieving stage a Cancer patient will go through at the possibility of the loss of life/ A V.O.C may go through similar.
Explanation: What the perpetrator does to their victim may have such a detrimental effect that the person no longer effectively has a life. For example P.T.S.D can last for life in some people. They may have been a successful business person then find themselves reduced to a life of a agoraphobic, never leaving their homes living in total isolation and they may be quite suicidal at times. They become a shell of a person. That does not mean they deserve less empathy than someone suffering from a physical disorder.
5. With cancer there are going to be physical effects from Chemo/Radiation or surgery / after a rape or assault there may be surgery or they may become physically affected suffering from anorexia/obesity/self harming behaviours etc and or the need for life time medication.
6. In both cases the people involved can change. Personality wise you may find you may no longer know the person who has been affected. Fear, and grief can do this.
7. Grief is grief. NO ONE has a right to take their feelings from them. Grief does not only apply to death. People grieve in life also. Grief=Loss. Loss of a job, loss of a friend, loss of a relationship, a dream, a future, a body you once had. loss of trust.
8. Society especially medical people get hung up on who has an entitlement to Empathy or understanding. Maybe they are naive, maybe they haven'tdealt with their own issues, or maybe they just don't care.
What does get on my goat though is the minusculeresources, or options for people who suffer from a crime committed against them. Perhaps the perception that a crime committed on a person leads to more of a psychological input rather than a physical input causes medical professionals to stand back. Remember a majority of health issues stem from a psychological base such as hypertension, angina, psoriasis, asthma, even a lowered immune response from stress. It still makes me wonder why then do medical staff treat a patient differently when they read the patients notes or hear they have been subjected to a crime upon them. Everyone reacts differently to experiences in their lives. Some are copers, some are not. Some are survivors, some don't. Do you stigmatise, label and judge someone who suffers from a diagnosis of cancer? Do you look down on them if they cry or yell over what has been thrust upon them, no I don't think you do. You make excuses for them "oh that's o.k they just found out, or are dealing with cancer". While the woman in the next cubicle may cry alone as she is only a victim. In both cases there is pain and or suffering, good care and the right resources may enable the V.O.C to maybe one day have a life. Further abuse through judgement/ labelling put-down or denial of care, is like denying a cancer patient chemotherapy.
p.s I have walked with people who have died from cancer, also with people who have died from the effects of abuse. Both situations are distressing my empathy is genuine in both accounts.
Quite obviously I have too much time on my hands. I do try to keep my mind stimulated while my body heals. So I have come up with this. It didn't take much thought.
When thinking about how say Cancer patients(only an example) are treated versus someone who has suffered from a trauma (i.e rape or domestic violence) there appears to be a huge engulfing divide.
From all my readings, and from personal experiences if you are a victim of a crime especially a woman you may almost be treated as a leper. The leper status may come from friends, or family, even from police to medical staff. There can be allot of blame laid on the head of a victim even in a court room. You don't see a cancer patient having to stand up against a medical panel to justify how they have suffered from Cancer? Well do you? No. Yet in both situations they are a victim of what has been done to them.
If you have cancer (just an example) you generally are heaped with empathy, their is a ton of support both physical and psychological. I know this may not always be the case I am generalising.
I have seen people walk the path of cancer. A truly scary journey. The same is said for a victim of a crime.
To get to the point I will outline the differences. In both cases neither party has bought this upon themselves.
1. A Cancer patient may be facing death/ a Victim of a Crime(V.O.C) may be facing death.
Explanation The initial trauma may involve a threat of death, there may be a disease linked to the assault such as infection from H.I.V or Hep C from the criminal involved. Or the Trauma may lead the person to committing suicide if they are severely effected.
2. The cancer patient may face a lifetime of fear, or anxiety or depression related to their condition./The V.O.C may face the same.
3. There may be long term psychological effects from a diagnosis of cancer re body image, and self esteem/ The V.O.C may face the same.
4. There may be a grieving stage a Cancer patient will go through at the possibility of the loss of life/ A V.O.C may go through similar.
Explanation: What the perpetrator does to their victim may have such a detrimental effect that the person no longer effectively has a life.
For example P.T.S.D can last for life in some people. They may have been a successful business person then find themselves reduced to a life of a agoraphobic, never leaving their homes living in total isolation and they may be quite suicidal at times. They become a shell of a person. That does not mean they deserve less empathy than someone suffering from a physical disorder.
5. With cancer there are going to be physical effects from Chemo/Radiation or surgery / after a rape or assault there may be surgery or they may become physically affected suffering from anorexia/obesity/self harming behaviours etc and or the need for life time medication.
6. In both cases the people involved can change. Personality wise you may find you may no longer know the person who has been affected. Fear, and grief can do this.
7. Grief is grief. NO ONE has a right to take their feelings from them. Grief does not only apply to death. People grieve in life also. Grief=Loss.
Loss of a job, loss of a friend, loss of a relationship, a dream, a future, a body you once had. loss of trust.
8. Society especially medical people get hung up on who has an entitlement to Empathy or understanding. Maybe they are naive, maybe they haven'tdealt with their own issues, or maybe they just don't care.
What does get on my goat though is the minusculeresources, or options for people who suffer from a crime committed against them. Perhaps the perception that a crime committed on a person leads to more of a psychological input rather than a physical input causes medical professionals to stand back.
Remember a majority of health issues stem from a psychological base such as hypertension, angina, psoriasis, asthma, even a lowered immune response from stress. It still makes me wonder why then do medical staff treat a patient differently when they read the patients notes or hear they have been subjected to a crime upon them. Everyone reacts differently to experiences in their lives. Some are copers, some are not. Some are survivors, some don't.
Do you stigmatise, label and judge someone who suffers from a diagnosis of cancer? Do you look down on them if they cry or yell over what has been thrust upon them, no I don't think you do. You make excuses for them "oh that's o.k they just found out, or are dealing with cancer". While the woman in the next cubicle may cry alone as she is only a victim.
In both cases there is pain and or suffering, good care and the right resources may enable the V.O.C to maybe one day have a life. Further abuse through judgement/ labelling put-down or denial of care, is like denying a cancer patient chemotherapy.
p.s I have walked with people who have died from cancer, also with people who have died from the effects of abuse. Both situations are distressing my empathy is genuine in both accounts.