Your choise of details

I can not stand this kind of thing scares me! especially nowadays that rapes are perpetrated by several men at the same time!
It's horrible!

Bonsoir Members of TOOA,

This topic reminds me of Gaspar Noe film \"Irreversible\" with Monica Bellucci and Vincent Cassel.
In this film there is a rape scene very terrible flood which lasted 9 minutes! It's really unbearable.

Mes hommages.

T.

IMO, it all depends on the audience. Obviously, one wouldn't write a childrens' book, or a \"teen romance\" book, that discussed rape (or any other criminal/abusive act). If something is an important part of the story, if it explains how and why the characters in the story got to be the way they are, one should be able to write about it in a book or story geared to a mature audience.

Of course this is not about the need for everyone's hands! But also, it is especially a very \"delicate\" because the writing style should not be \"touted\"

As it is a harsh reality, I don't see what's wrong if writing about it. Sure, if you ignore something it doesn't mean it doesn't happen and by this I don't mean we should constantly think of the horrid things that happen in our world. I for one get depressed just thinking that everyday children die of starvation, people are murdered, lives are torn apart and hearts trampled... but I can't live in my pink cosy bubble either, thinking that everything's ok or what happens to complete srangers does not concern me. But how can I change something?
Rape is such a delicate issue. It's traumatising, especially if the victim is young and what's outrageous is that many get away with it. Many victims do not talk about it because they are afraid and ashamed. If you're young and tend to keep everything to yourself you start blaming yourself for what has happened. I do talk from experience, but it isn't something that permanently stigmatizes you. One must learn to overcome such feelings/memories. So yeah, why not include it in litterature? It is a touchy subject but avoiding it is tantamount to claiming such thing never happens.

I don't think there's anything wrong with writing about such things but I do think there are some matters to consider before going ahead :

1) Who is your audience?

2) Is it an integral part of the plot?

3) What is your personal comfort level in writing about such things? (This will help determine how detailed the description is.)