Why is telling girls to be careful rape apologistic

[sgtkate]

I wonder what people think would happen if women only wore 'modest dress' and refrained from wearing mini skirts, gave up alcohol entirely? Do you believe rape would stop? Because if not, then any advice around giving suggestions on suitable attire is ridiculous. And even if someone does follow the advice given about clothing and by some weird outcome doesn't get raped solely as a result of the fact the left their mini skirt in the wardrobe, there's a high chance someone else did get raped instead. In fact the advice to people to lock your doors is in fact similar. If there is a burglar looking for a target and you lock your door, there is a good chance they will try someone elses door instead until they find one open, and there is an even greater chance that the person with the unlocked door who gets robbed is a vulnerable member of society. In an odd way the giving of advice to stop you being a victim of crime is very much an 'I'm alright Jack' attitude with little care given to who else might get hurt instead.

 

If everyone targeted those that commit the crimes rather than on those who are the victims then no one would need to lock their doors in the first place.

[Jeffrey Shaw]

Yes. The same logic concerns 'human rights'.

There's no such thing. But there ARE human duties, imposed by law, such as the laws that make murder/manslaughter/GBH/rape criminal offences.

In all cases, it's not the victim's duty to avoid being a victim- but it is the attacker's duty to avoid attacking.

[Waldo]

I wonder what people think would happen if women only wore 'modest dress' and refrained from wearing mini skirts, gave up alcohol entirely? Do you believe rape would stop?

 

I think, certainly in terms of being sober or drunk, you're probably safer (from all kinds of danger) the more towards the sober end of the spectrum you are.

 

Because if not, then any advice around giving suggestions on suitable attire is ridiculous. And even if someone does follow the advice given about clothing and by some weird outcome doesn't get raped solely as a result of the fact the left their mini skirt in the wardrobe, there's a high chance someone else did get raped instead. In fact the advice to people to lock your doors is in fact similar. If there is a burglar looking for a target and you lock your door, there is a good chance they will try someone elses door instead until they find one open, and there is an even greater chance that the person with the unlocked door who gets robbed is a vulnerable member of society. In an odd way the giving of advice to stop you being a victim of crime is very much an 'I'm alright Jack' attitude with little care given to who else might get hurt instead.

 

So I should remove all security, locks, alarms etc, from my home; just so a potential thief will target my home, rather than someone more vulnerable? If I don't, I am responsible or to blame for that thief robbing that vulnerable person's home?

 

If everyone targeted those that commit the crimes rather than on those who are the victims then no one would need to lock their doors in the first place.

 

I'm struggling to understand why we can't do both. On the one hand, as you rightly say, we need to target the perpetrators of crime, put out the clear message that harming other people for your own gratification or gain, is abhorrent behaviour that will be punished. On the other hand, let's not make life easy for them, by (to borrow your analogy) leaving our doors unlocked.

 

Why can't we don't both? Are those two approaches mutually exclusive?

[Cyclone]

Of course we can do both. But when you repeatedly tell a group of people that they need to change their behaviour, in an onerous way, to avoid being attacked, you make it such that not following that advice attracts blame to them. You are a precursor to victim blaming at best.

 

And it's worth repeating again that attractiveness, short skirts, cleavage, whatever, are not things that increase the likelihood of rape.

Edited November 30, 2017 by Cyclone

[Andbreathe]

I wonder what people think would happen if women only wore 'modest dress' and refrained from wearing mini skirts, gave up alcohol entirely? Do you believe rape would stop?

 

it's not the victim's duty to avoid being a victim- but it is the attacker's duty to avoid attacking.

 

 

And it's worth repeating again that attractiveness, short skirts, cleavage, whatever, are not things that increase the likelihood of rape.

 

 

Says it all really.

[cressida]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-42209755

 

An Egyptian lawyer has been sentenced to three years in prison for saying that women who wear ripped jeans should be raped in punishment.

 

Nabih al-Wahsh, a prominent conservative, was also fined 20,000 Egyptian pounds (£839; $1,130).

 

The lawyer made the remarks on a TV panel show in October, during a debate on a draft law on prostitution.

 

"Are you happy when you see a girl walking down the street with half of her behind showing?" he said.

 

He added: "I say that when a girl walks about like that, it is a patriotic duty to sexually harass her and a national duty to rape her."

 

It is the duty for men to control themselves and grow up

Edited December 2, 2017 by cressida