(Trigger warning: rape) Hello friends, I dont usually post things like this on Facebook, because its a heavy and sensitive topic, and not something that people typically want to read or think about. But a conversation that I just overheard on the train indicated its urgency to me. Im not saying any of these things to start an argument or anything like that, just merely to remind everyone to really think about what theyre saying and the true meaning and potential consequence of their words. This is going to be a long post, and Im not expecting you all to read it, but thank you to those who do. Here is a quick recap of the conversation that I heard, between Person 1 and Person 2: 1 - I dont know what she was expecting, she was walking around with half her clothes off, she obviously wanted to get with him. 2 - True, but I still bad for her though. Do you know if shes going to report him? 1 - I dont know, she better not, thatd ruin his life, like thats so slack. Its not his fault, she was definitely giving him that vibe that she wanted it. Plus he was off his face, he didnt even know what he was doing, he wouldnt do that sober. This made me so incredibly angry, I was too upset to even say anything to them, so I felt the need to get it out here. I am so sick of this reaction to rape. I see/read it all too often. If someone is raped walking alone at night, they shouldnt be walking alone at night. If someone is raped and is wearing revealing clothing, they was clearly just asking for it. If someone is raped and they had been drinking, they shouldnt have been drinking. With that last scenario, how is that someone is blamed for being drunk if theyre raped, yet if someone who is drunk rapes someone, theyre defended because they werent in their right state of mind and couldnt control themselves. Do you understand how insane that sounds?! Why is it that people are so quick to put the responsibility on the victim? As if they MUST have done something irresponsible or wrong. Do you realise that when people say this, they are defending and justifying rape. By saying they shouldnt have been walking alone at night, theyre excusing what has been done to that person. People sometimes label these kinds of things as merely preventative measures, but what it is really doing, is putting the responsibility on people not to get raped, rather than teaching people that rape is wrong (which I thought was common knowledge, but apparently not). And this has had such negative consequences on these victims. 60% of rape cases arent reported, and a large factor of this is fear of blame. Thats horrible and so sad, that people are not comfortable taking legal action against a criminal, which is what someone who rapes someone is, because theyre worried that they will get the blame for it. That, to me, is so disturbing and is a mindset that needs to be changed, and if this status makes one person reconsider their thoughts about this, Ill be so happy. I could go on about this, but I just wanted to this to be a quick reminder. Rape victims need support, not blame. And rapists need to be punished, not defended.
Posted on: Sun, 05 Oct 2014 08:58:56 +0000
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