# Need word suggestion other than "victim" or "survivor"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 11, 2016, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-word-suggestion-other-than-victim-or-survivor/742858 "2016-01-11T23:15:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-word-suggestion-other-than-victim-or-survivor/742858/1 "2016-01-11T23:15:13Z")
I need help with a word, other than “Victim” or “Survivor” for sexual assault. Any help is appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-word-suggestion-other-than-victim-or-survivor/742858/2 "2016-01-11T23:24:52Z")
Are you trying to maintain the gravity of the situation? If so, I would gather that “Recipient” is out. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-word-suggestion-other-than-victim-or-survivor/742858/3 "2016-01-11T23:30:24Z")
Target? Assaulted individual? ---
**Author:** ![iljitsch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/77aa72/32.png) [@iljitsch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iljitsch)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-word-suggestion-other-than-victim-or-survivor/742858/4 "2016-01-11T23:40:21Z")
People on the receiving end of criminal activities are generally called victims. ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e47774/32.png) [@quiltguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-word-suggestion-other-than-victim-or-survivor/742858/5 "2016-01-12T01:17:40Z")
Not-dead? ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-word-suggestion-other-than-victim-or-survivor/742858/6 "2016-01-12T01:20:48Z")
Vetran? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-word-suggestion-other-than-victim-or-survivor/742858/7 "2016-01-12T02:00:01Z")
[This page](https://www.powerthesaurus.org/victim/synonyms) has 189 synonyms for “victim;” the majority seem derogatory. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-word-suggestion-other-than-victim-or-survivor/742858/8 "2016-01-12T02:21:04Z")
> [@iljitsch](#): > > People on the receiving end of criminal activities are generally called victims. I understand that, I am looking for something different, and yes, maintain the gravity of the situation. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-word-suggestion-other-than-victim-or-survivor/742858/9 "2016-01-12T03:48:11Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Are you trying to maintain the gravity of the situation? If so, I would gather that “Recipient” is out. That was the first word I thought of. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-word-suggestion-other-than-victim-or-survivor/742858/10 "2016-01-12T07:10:59Z")
I’d like to think I’d go for the max irony/drool: “Beneficiary” or “Other Participant”. If I had to play it straight, “Target” would get my vote. ---
**Author:** ![StrangeBird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e480ec/32.png) [@StrangeBird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StrangeBird)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-word-suggestion-other-than-victim-or-survivor/742858/11 "2016-01-12T07:19:14Z")
Is there anything you can tell us about the context? This would help us work out what might be appropriate as an alternative. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-word-suggestion-other-than-victim-or-survivor/742858/12 "2016-01-12T07:58:11Z")
This is entirely too cutesy, but had to share: Assailee ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-word-suggestion-other-than-victim-or-survivor/742858/13 "2016-01-12T09:28:04Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > This is entirely too cutesy, but had to share: Neither cutesey nor, I believe, correct: you want _assailed_, as in _the assailed_ or _the assaulted_. Note that you have _assailant_, not _assailer_. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-word-suggestion-other-than-victim-or-survivor/742858/14 "2016-01-12T12:40:59Z")
Any noun will sound like the rape and its aftermath define the victims identity. A verb does not have that defining effect. “I was raped/ assaulted/ abused, and…” is better. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-word-suggestion-other-than-victim-or-survivor/742858/15 "2016-01-12T12:44:32Z")
Also better is a focus on the perpetrator. “In college, a drunk friend did’t want to hear no, and he was too heavy to fight off” paints a picture of the rapist, not of the victim. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-word-suggestion-other-than-victim-or-survivor/742858/16 "2016-01-12T17:17:43Z")
It’s apparent the OP is uncomfortable with the connotations of both “victim” and “survivor”. Without the OP telling us what connotations he/she \*does \*want we can’t really help. Any substitute word will either have active overt connotations, or will be read as having connotations by omission. i.e. the soft-pedal euphemism that minimizes the gravity versus the loaded term that emphasizes it. “Neutrality” is very much a matter of taste. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-word-suggestion-other-than-victim-or-survivor/742858/17 "2016-01-12T17:28:17Z")
Would “object of sexual assault” be closer to what you seek? ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-word-suggestion-other-than-victim-or-survivor/742858/18 "2016-01-13T00:44:20Z")
rape-players? sex-denier? unconsentual-sexorcista? ---
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-word-suggestion-other-than-victim-or-survivor/742858/19 "2016-01-13T01:04:44Z")
How about “the offended party?” ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-word-suggestion-other-than-victim-or-survivor/742858/20 "2016-01-13T01:19:24Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > This is entirely too cutesy, but had to share: > > Assailee You have me beat. All I could come up with was “[Case Hardened](https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=case+hardened)”.