A main part of the story is the repeated past rape of the female main character's sister. It is described in detail several times and referred to throughout the book. She was also raped multiple times as a child/teenager by the man who they both believed to be her father. There is an attempted rape against the female main character. He gropes and threatens her but he is killed before anything further happens. There are other references in the book to human trafficking and non-graphic rapes that have happened in the past.