Physical Violation Constitutes Rape

I had argued that Bungle did not commit rape--and though I still adhere to that opinion, I do agree with many aspects we touched on during class. Do characters in books, who are raped, murdered, beaten, are they not to be taken seriously? Are they not to be pitied? Of course they are, and of course I would consider them raped. But they are characters in a world of fiction, whose bodies are violated and harmed---and therefore i cannot connect cyber "rape" to the rape in books. Again, it is abusing the mind, but no actual body is being harmed and violated, as they are in our reality and in the character's reality within their paged world. I agree that there is an emotional investment in being a character online, but to what extent should we consider it in our reality? Those who have committed themselves to going online have voluntarily set themselves up for new possibilities, new chances for abusive encounters, and cyber situations such as these, that take away from their claim of being a rape victim.