Girlfriend is Afraid of Men

I'm not exactly sure where to put this thread, but I figured here would be a good place.
She was consistently beaten by her father until I contacted the authorities. She has also worked as a prostitute where she hurt and abused by men, and has gotten into situations where she's been taken advantage of. So it's no wonder she has some deep seeded negative feelings towards them
However, she wont acknowledge being afraid of them. She just says that she hates them, they're disgusting, etc. I'd like her to be able to form friendships with men so that she can realize that they're just people, like women are, and that not all of them are out to hurt her.
Yesterday we were going to a bookstore, walking through the isles and a man reached out in front of her to stop a book from falling. She flinched so badly into the bookcase that there's already bruises forming on her back.
I don't know how to help her confront and resolve her feelings about men, when she refuses to realize or even talk about them. I want to help her so badly, it's painful to know that interacting with men in ordinary situations makes her so uncomfortable.
She is reluctant to talk about her bad experiences in general.

I'm curious as to how she's managing to be in a relationship with you if this is the case. Figure out what it is about you that makes her see you as trustworthy and safe, and try and get her to see that in other men. Have you spoken to her about seeing a therapist? If so, and she has refused...there's not much you can do. You can only help those who want to be helped, cause if they don't feel they need help or don't want it - anything you try will only push them away from you. Hope that helps.

I think the OP might be a female. This would explain your question.

You know...I probably should have realized that. It didn't even cross my mind...which it honestly should have cause I'm Bi. Well the rest of my statement still stands though - You can't help someone who doesn't want help. If she wants help or is open to the idea of getting help, by all means get her some therapy - if not though....pushing the issue will only make the girl push her away.

I'm a girl, so I'm probably not more trustworthy than the average female haha. Yes, she talks to a therapist, but is stiff lipped about this issue. I realize that if she's not willing to address the problem, there's no way I can truly help her, but I feel like she could address it if I found small ways to address the problem. Often i'll scan the internet and newspaper, and bring up good deeds that men did. Stuff like that. I don't know if it'll help or not.

I don't know how recent her bad experience with men have been, her abuse and whatnot, how recently she got away from all that, but she might just need some time to process it in a healthy way. It might be a completely understandable reaction to trauma that she will work through if given a little time.

However, if all that is basically ancient history then she may have failed to work through it and need some help to do so. Unfortunately, I wouldn't know how to go about that, and it's good she's seeing a therapist, hopefully it's a good one.