Sexual Assault Scenes

I reckon there's nothing wrong with introducing a character by making him or her a victim of sexual assault. That could be a powerful (shocking) way to introduce a character. Isn't that important? You wouldn't want to introduce someone with something ordinary like, "Oh hi, my name is xxx."

 

It can be just as powerful to start with an everyday scene showing the character's life being happy, e.g. a girl walking home on a warm summer's evening when it's still light, she's swinging a bag containing her ballet practice clothes and thinking about how well her lesson went.
Then it slowly moves on to the assault scene. A feeling of uneasiness or tension can build up maybe (a sound as if someone is following her or something, the slow start of panic, the feeling that she'll be okay since she's nearly home...)
The assault scene is then even more shocking because we are caught more by surprise after the happy start, and identify and empathise more with her--she's not such a stranger to us.
And IMO any graphic description would have to have some point, ie. be part of the rapist's MO, let's say, not just given to titilate those who get off on violence.

 

If you ever saw the movie Watchmen or read the award winning graphic novel of same name, you'd realize you just quoted the character Rorschach almost to the word. Comparing people to dogs, dehumanizing them, is the first basic step in rationalizing revenge murder.

You corrected me, saying it was justice, which is actually a technical abuse of the word in it's rightful meaning. The word you should have used was revenge. Revenge and justice are two different words with two different meanings.

You can't simply say "It's justice" when in fact it's not.

You didn't read what I wrote. I wasn't comparing to the Holocaust but to the Euthanasia Program. Furthermore, it was not me who suggested killing people for being mentally ill, in any way, it was exactly that idea I objected against. The post I replied to, said directly that they should be "sliced and diced". I objected to it, simply, and then referred to the Euthanasia Program as a very relevant and exact comparison to the argument.

I'm sorry if it seems like I'm keeping on with an irrelevant argument, but your reply to my post was unjust to the meaning of what I said, and I have to clarify.
Now I'll withdraw from this thread to not clutter the subject any further.

 

This thread isn't about capital punishment. Stay on topic.

 

After additional thought, I wonder if there might be a greater risk in opening with such a dramatic scene. My question is, how do you follow up such a compelling beginning? Is there a risk that your reader might become bored or distracted by the subsequent development of the story? You'll need to develop a plot that at least matches the initial intensity.

 

If you lead with such a strong opener, you can carry that momentum into the rest of your story. I believe it's called the Swimming Pool Theory, and it goes something like, "The harder you push off the wall, the farther you can glide." I think the best thing you could do is slow down and back off after such a powerful opening. Develop the repercussions of the assault and how the character's life is affected by it. That's the throughline, isn't it? You can certainly make that interesting enough to hold a reader's attention. Just imagine what it might be like when she falls in love for the first time. The obstacles that will face that relationship and the tolls it might take on both parties are bound to be intense, and interesting. Does their love for each other triumph, or are they unable to make it work? Can she overcome her past? Can he deal with a woman who is afraid to even let him touch her, and the guilt he feels over letting such a thing get to him? Who knows? I'd want to find out though.