Citation

Dhawan E, Haggard P. Nat. Hum. Behav. 2023; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1038/s41562-023-01598-6

PMID

37217738

Abstract

Victims frequently report immobility during rape and sexual assault, often using the term ‘freezing’. Neuroscientific evidence suggests fear and threat can block cortical neural circuits for action control, leading to involuntary immobility. Defence arguments that blame victims for freezing are thus inappropriate and unjust.

Rape and sexual assault (collectively, RSA) are distinctive types of aggressive and criminal human behaviour that are overwhelmingly committed by men and directed at women. Thirty per cent of women have experienced RSA in their lifetime. The burdens of RSA on individuals and ...

Language: en