Rape is a crime committed when a person is forced to have sexual intercourse by physical force or coercion. “683,000 rapes occur each year” (CVS) and the national average for those accused of rape is eight years in federal prison. Rape is a serious crime just like other crimes, but rape is considered a more serious and heinous crime along with murder etc. There are also different phases of rape that the victim may go through depending on how they handle it. Eight years in prison is not a good amount of time for someone for what they have done, all the things that involve the process of rape should be incorporated into the sentence: force, against someone's will, and above all, physical and emotional violence. the trauma that accompanies it and which only the victim must face. When a person is raped, the person who raped them should receive the number of years in prison for as long as it takes for the victim to recover from the rape, meaning the justice system should allow the victim to decide the criminal's punishment based on whether or not the victim feels safe when the perpetrator is released from prison. Victims also go through five different stages and these stages can/will have a huge effect on a person's mental health and they may be considered unstable after the attack. The national average years in prison for rape should not be just 8 years; it should be raised higher in the name of the victim. There are a lot of symptoms that come from rape, some may have a change in personality and friends and others may choose to drop out of school. Rape can have an effect on people that can harm them for life and for some victims, the only way for them to recover from an attack is if they know their attacker is incarcerated and in the middle of paper.... ..the criminal should be in the hands of the victim because she is the one who has to go through the therapy, trauma and all the other stuff that comes with sexual assault and if the victim cannot recovering from rape and does not feel safe if his attacker is not incarnated, then this criminal should not be allowed out of prison. The national average for rape convictions will not end the problem if the victim cannot recover from the attack. Crime Victim Services (CVS). Np, and Web. November 12, 2013. Kilpatrick, Dean G. “Impact of Rape on Mental Health.” Impact of rape on mental health. Medical University of South Carolina, nd Web. “Web Information on Sexual Assault and Abuse.” » UIC Campus Advocacy Network. UIC, nd Web. Berman, Laura, Dr. “The Stages of Grief a Rape Victim Goes Through.” Love and sex nd: n. page. Print.