Annoying phrase

Please know that I am STILL sick (the dr. says I have influenza so I have another few days of this before I am better, although I am improved since 2 days ago) and fuzzy headed so I may not say things as clearly as I ought to and I am in no way intending to put down anyone who disagrees with me.

I just read a phrase that makes me cringe every time I encounter it: "rape survivor".  I am not even completely sure why I hate that phrase.  I think it is because I do not equate what happened to me to things that could have taken my life.  Survivor of war, of polio, of cancer, yes.  Of a terribly traumatic, painful, life-changing experience, not so much.

I also don't think rape defines me.  It is something that happened and eventually life moved on.  And ultimately I had to go back and relive a lot of it to handle the pain better but I didn't do anything to 'survive"; I just kept living.  And that doesn't deserve to be equated with those who go through so much to maintain life.

I am not saying what I lived through wasn't terrible and traumatic.  It was.  But it was also not life or death.

I just don't quite get how that phrase became so much a part of our language.