Surviving Wife Rape

Abstract

This article explores how women define their experiences of wife rape and cope with the violence. Drawing on interviews with 35 survivors of wife rape, the stages through which women pass in coping with the violence—much like Mills's (1985) model for battered women—are described. These stages include entering a violent relationship, managing the violence, experiencing a loss of self, redefining the violence, ending the violence, and recovering from the trauma. Particular attention is given to understanding how women manage the violence and redefine their experiences as rape.