Older women, obese women, women with severe physical disabilities, all are examples of women who may not be believed because they don t live up to certain standards of attractiveness. Women shouldn t have or enjoy sexual activity, so if they had sexual relationships prior to the rape they may be labeled promiscuous. Even in this era, women are expected to abstain from sexual activity before marriage and to limit it to their husbands afterwards. Some people presume that when a woman claims rape, she is using it to cover up her illicit activities outside of those parameters. Women are fickle, manipulating, and vengeful.
Women often fantasize and their stories are a result of deep-seated needs for attention.
The more explicit the account of various sexual activities, the more likely that lay people will be convinced that it couldn t have happened. Rape, sexual abuse, or incest is just a way of life for women in some environments and cultures. No one can really be sexually assaulted if they don t want to be. This myth is fostered by the idea that struggle and force are necessary elements of rape. Most sexual assaults are committed by strangers.