Chapter Thirty-Three

I love the Stirgises and their camper.  I imagine the chaos of having a bunch of active kids in a trailer on an endless road trip and it amuses me.  And Laura is so delightfully and innocently tactless.  I needed a burst of that to counterbalance the darkness of Dani’s memories.

I spent a lot of time debating whether or not Dani could have been assaulted.  It seemed like it would be impossible for a superhero.  However, as I did more research, I discovered that physical capability doesn’t guarantee invulnerability.  Women with black belts, police officers, soldiers, all of them have suffered assaults.  I’ve kept the details of Dani’s assault vague while concentrating on the emotional impact because I don’t believe victimization should be titillating. 

There is still a lot of shame involved in reporting an assault.  Dani’s reactions are based on my research with actual rape victims.  Despite years of encouraging women to believe in “No means no” and that no one can “ask for it” most victims still blame themselves and are reluctant to tell.  They believe others will look on them with disgust, and sadly, they are right about that sometimes.  They need professional help to regain their former confidence.