A new edition of the 1988 classic text that exposed the extreme prevalence of rape in America, coining the term acquaintance rape and establishing the disturbing statistics on sexual assault that still hold just as true today—now featuring an original preface from Gloria Steinem, a new introduction by Salamishah Tillet, an updated afterword by Mary P. Koss, PH.D., as well as an updated resources section. “Essential. . . . It is nonpolemical, lucid, and speaks eloquently not only to the victims of acquaintance rape but to all those caught in its net.”— Philadelphia Inquirer In 1988, Robin Warshaw wrote I Never Called It Rape, the ground-breaking book that revealed a staggering truth: 25% of women were the victims of rape or attempted rape. Over 80% of these women knew their assailants. Warhsaw based her reportage on the first large-scale study into rape ever, conducted by Ms. Magazine in the late 80s. Thirty years later, we now have a wealth of statistics on rape. The disturbing truth is that the figures have not diminished. That our culture enables rape is not just shown by the numbers—the outbreak of allegations against serial rapists from Bill Cosby to Harvey Weinstein and the 2016 presidential election of Donald Trump, a man who was recorded bragging about sexual assault, have further amplified this horrifying truth. With over 80,000 copies sold to date, I Never Called It Rape has served as a guide to understanding rape as a cultural phenomenon for tens of thousands—providing women and men with strategies to address our rape endemic; survivors with the context and resources to help them heal from their experiences; and pulling the wool from all our eyes on the pervasiveness of rape and sexual assault today. As relevant today as when it was first published, this new edition features Warshaw’s original report and her 1994 Introduction, as well as an original Preface from Gloria Steinem, a new Introduction by Salamishah Tillet on how the cultural landscape has evolved since the 1980s, an updated Afterword by Mary P. Koss, PH.D., examining the ways she would approach the research she did for Ms. differently today, as well as an updated resources section.

Focused and timely. . . . Chapters on special issues highlight marital rape, legal factors, the recovery process, and prevention. Important factual information is interspersed with painfully graphic first-person responses from survivors. This book is an important contribution to the trauma and recovery literature. --Terry L. Sweig in READINGS: A Journal of Reviews and Commentary in Mental Health "This book addresses the problem of acquaintance rape and its complexity in a comprehensive manner. The book provides helpful information and treatment suggestions for those professionals who wish to know more about this important issue. It is a useful addition to the field of mental health." --Doody′s Health Sciences Book Review Journal "Spousal rape and acquaintance rape are treated in this book. It is an important text for therapists in the field." --Ron MacIssac, review in What′s Happening?, Victoria, B.C. Every year thousands of women are raped by someone they know and never report the sexual assault, partly because acquaintance rape is still widely misunderstood in our society and victims are often blamed for the crime. Addressing a need to change perceptions about this type of assault, this important book informs and educates about the nature of acquaintance rape and its impact on the victim, intervention, and prevention. The chapters on intervention include material on crisis intervention, tools for effective rape counseling, and strategies for meeting the psychosocial needs of survivors who are facing long-term recovery due to previous sexual assault victimization. Survivors vividly describe the events in their own words, bringing home the horror of acquaintance rape and the immediate need for action to prevent it. The authors also offer a special chapter on marital rape to expose this long-denied and insidious form of rape. In addition, a useful review of current literature pinpoints interventions crucial to rape prevention. Intimate Betrayal is essential reading for mental health professionals; crisis centers, student services, and law enforcement personnel; pastoral counselors, legal professionals; social workers; and advanced clinical students. But in addition to the helping professionals, this memorable book provides information important to any reader interested in understanding the nature and treatment of acquaintance rape.

"What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape is brilliant, frank, empowering, and urgently necessary. Sohaila Abdulali has created a powerful tool for examining rape culture and language on the individual, societal, and global level that everyone can benefit from reading." —Jill Soloway In the tradition of Rebecca Solnit, a beautifully written, deeply intelligent, searingly honest—and ultimately hopeful—examination of sexual assault and the global discourse on rape told through the perspective of a survivor, writer, counselor, and activist After surviving gang-rape at seventeen in Mumbai, Sohaila Abdulali was indignant about the deafening silence that followed and wrote a fiery piece about the perception of rape—and rape victims—for a women's magazine. Thirty years later, with no notice, her article reappeared and went viral in the wake of the 2012 fatal gang-rape in New Delhi, prompting her to write a New York Times op-ed about healing from rape that was widely circulated. Now, Abdulali has written What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape—a thoughtful, generous, unflinching look at rape and rape culture. Drawing on her own experience, her work with hundreds of survivors as the head of a rape crisis center in Boston, and three decades of grappling with rape as a feminist intellectual and writer, Abdulali tackles some of our thorniest questions about rape, articulating the confounding way we account for who gets raped and why—and asking how we want to raise the next generation. In interviews with survivors from around the world we hear moving personal accounts of hard-earned strength, humor, and wisdom that collectively tell the larger story of what rape means and how healing can occur. Abdulali also points to the questions we don't talk about: Is rape always a life-definining event? Is one rape worse than another? Is a world without rape possible? What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape is a book for this #MeToo and #TimesUp age that will stay with readers—men and women alike—for a long, long time.