C enters that provide counseling for the victims of rape and sexual assault have proliferated in the last half-dozen years or so, paralleling the increased public awareness of the frequency with which these offenses occur, the devastating consequences for the victims, and the difficulties that face those who wish to report and prosecute rape. Counseling can help a victim deal with the emotional trauma of rape, as well as with the intricacies of the system with which she must deal if she reports the rape to the police and pursues prosecution. Counseling can also help the victim to work through what has come to be known as rape trauma syndrome,l a disruption that has both immediate and long-lasting effects on her life.