Also it's the victim thing for women. Basically what can only happen to women - sure men get raped too, but it has always been seen as a bigger threat for women. So, being somebody who might get raped, or is threatened with rape, makes her seem more of a woman, while at the same time makes her seem like more of a victim, somebody who should be defended, and so gets her more sympathy.

Even if nobody these days would call it "a fate worse than death", some of that image still lingers, even if it is well below the conscious with most people.

So, that makes her more victimized than if she was simply threatened with other types of violence, like a man might be.