My Opinion: Stop reading gif you are looking for a review

I was sifting through my technological links yesterday....twitter, Facebook, the blogs I follow...and I saw an author post a comment about a number of books she had recently read that had Rape as the antagonist for the main character.  I also have noticed many books that have abusive situations or near abuse at the forefront of the book.  It made me wonder... is it an easy way to show the "guy" as a hero?  Is it an easy way to show angst?  Or is it an excuse for the character to act the way they do?  I don't know.  What I worry is that this may reflect the plight of our YA readers.  Are the people who are using this as a thread in the story survivors of this violence?  Do they know someone who is?  Is this so prevalent in our society that we are seeing it pop up again and again in the books of today?  I don't know but I worry that either we are taking the easy way out to find flaw and tension in our characters or there is a need for a greater awareness to violence against woman.