Myth-Busting Monday: Can rape result in pregnancy?

Every Monday EFC busts myths and takes names, cutting through the misinformation, disinformation, and straight up nonsense to bring you the facts.

A particularly appalling myth, propagated by some anti-abortion groups, claims that women who are raped cannot get pregnant.  This myth relies on the fiction that the trauma of rape creates conditions in which conception is less likely. Not only is it simply untrue, as thousands of women from around the world can testify, but it is a particularly damaging myth which may leave women who are pregnant following rape feeling even more stigmatised and judged because it is assumed that they have either experienced a ‘trauma-free rape’ or not been raped at all.  For more information about support following sexual assault, visit Rape Crisis.