The author is spot-on here, "realism" is a very flimsy justification for including sexual assault. One also does not need to even include sexual assault to evok

The author is spot-on here, "realism" is a very flimsy justification for including sexual assault. One also does not need to even include sexual assault to evoke the same "gritty" or revolting feeling as rape, just look at the larval state of xenimorphs in the Alien franchise - they enter through your mouth and "birth" themselves violently through your chest.