It is out there for discussion never the less.

As you were typing that I did expand on my original post on the other page. I think stranger rape only makes a smaller percentage of cases.

The suggestion that women can prevent sexual assaults from happening is pretty unfair, and may underpin the development of mental health problems like PTSD following such incidents.

Comments like "you could have done this differently" or "you should have done that" leads the victim to revisit the assault over and over again, looking for things she (or he) could have done to "prevent" the rape (and re-visiting is a primary component of PTSD). Non-victims and victims alike want to believe in a just world - that people don't just get hurt for no reason. So many think "well, she must have done something to provoke him."

Well, that's a crock of shit. Nobody is a fucking mind-reader, and no man lacks the ability to back off when told no - no matter HOW aroused or "provoked" he is. Believing otherwise is part of the constellation of attitudes that fosters sexual assault in the first place. Men and women alike should be free to express their sexuality (in a non-violent manner), without fear of being "punished" for it.

Excellent.

I’m not making excuses for them. I’m saying that the reality is that rapists exist. We know rapists exist. So we should beware of that at all times. It’s not a question of whether or not it is right or wrong for rapists to exist that I’m debating. I’m saying that the fact of the matter is that they do and so we should take the time to acknowledge that. And, yes, if a man fears that he is going to be raped then he should avoid going out alone and getting drunk amidst strangers.


Some men think they can take advantage of a woman because she is dancing provocatively with them, has spent most of the night in his company, pecks him on the cheek, etc. They lose control of themselves because they feel so in control of the situation. To them, it’s this woman wants me and so I’m going to take her and then it gets way out of hand. And, of course, a man or woman can always change their mind. Again, I am not saying that a victim is at fault for a rape because she acted sexually toward a man. I’m saying that to not act that way could possibly help prevent the rape. There is a huge difference between the two statements. Nothing gives the man the right to rape the woman but doing/not doing certain things can help avoid the situation altogether in many cases.


There are always consequences (whether they be positive or negative) to how anyone behaves. You can’t just go around doing whatever the fuck you want to do, right? There are consequences to how men behave too. Thelma and Louise blew up that one guy’s truck.


You turned around everything I said even though I tried to prevent that from happening. I wouldn’t say the elderly is asking to be robbed but I would say that, if they were concerned about being robbed and didn’t want it to happen, they should put up a security screen. To explain the topic at hand – I don’t think any woman who is raped is asking for it but I’m saying that women should take every precaution they can against it.


Good job on being ignorant. Many Muslim women who cover themselves head to foot do so because they want to. Women are held in high regard in traditional Islam and the covering is meant to protect them rather than limit them.


Wrong. I blame a lot of crimes on the victim.
“You were robbed? Did you lock the door?”
“No. I never lock the door.”
“Were you only going to be gone for a few minutes?”
“No, I knew I was going to be gone for several hours.”
Etc.
The person didn’t deserve to be robbed and I wouldn’t necessarily put him at fault (as I am not blaming rape victims for what happened to them) but there are plenty of ways it could have been prevented. And, such as it is in rape, the ways could fail to work – could ignore a lock door or whatever. I’m just saying, protect yourselves as best you can. I don’t see what’s wrong with that notion.


Walking home alone and wearing a tight shirt constitute participating in society? Once again, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t be able to control our actions. But I am saying that we should acknowledge that there are those out there who won’t. That’s the reality of the situation.



I’m quite obviously not referring to this kind of rape for the most part as I used the example from Thelma and Louise, which is stranger rape.


I mean, the first thing I would ask the driver would be, “Did you try to swerve?” “Were you wearing your seatbelt?” “How fast were you driving?” If the person in the other vehicle was driving drunk or doing something else reckless (and is therefore at fault) then, of course, I wouldn’t blame the motorist necessarily for doing nothing to prevent it. I would, however, think that person was rather ignorant to put himself in the situation and should have done something different.

So to use that with rape – the victim is not at fault (I don’t know how many times I can say that) but women should either acknowledge that there is a possibility of sexual assault and make their decisions based off of that acknowledgment or continue to think that we can do whatever the fuck we want and nothing bad will ever happen to us. It just seems STUPID to me to go out alone dressed with a skirt up to your ass and your boobs hanging out, get drunk, step outside alone with a stranger…I mean, it doesn’t give that person the right to rape you, it doesn’t make you deserve to be raped, and it doesn’t put you at fault for the rape. But look at all the ways you could have tried to prevent it. Go with a friend. Know your drinking limits. At the very least, ask the bouncer or owner or someone (even another chick) to walk with you out to your car. Of course, I’m referring to the scenario I described, so these precautions cannot be used in every situation, but really…there are so many things you can do to at least try to prevent rape or sexual assault, even if it still ends up happening to you.


Now I agree with your points. I’m not saying that there is any justification in raping a woman for dressing provocatively, dancing sensually, being drunk, being alone, etc. He can always stop, he should always stop. It doesn’t make it okay that he did it or right. And it doesn’t make the woman at fault. But I know that, at the very least, I would behave a bit differently going out alone than with friends, for example. I might would dress more conservatively, drink less, etc. Once again my point is that we should be smart as women and make intelligent choices as best we can. Rape and sexual assault could always occur regardless of what we do but we should do whatever we can.


I think you are a stupid piece of ignorant shit if you can’t even take the time to write a post to defend your viewpoints in a mature way. Calling someone names doesn’t do anything on a message board at all – the whole point is to carry on a discussion, which is something that you never do.

And for the record, I am not at all ignorant about rape or stupid in general. Why don’t you go fuck yourself instead?

I maintain my position about the attacker retaining sole responsibility for his/her own actions, regardless of victim actions and characteristics. Sexual assault is still a choice, and one made by the attacker, not the victim.

Again, victim-blaming rape myths (such as beliefs that victims somehow provoke the attacks) underpin psychological disorders like PTSD, and do nothing to reduce the risk or incidence of sexual assaults. Indeed, they only increase the probability of sexual assault and violence against women (or men) by providing justification for the offender's actions.

Here's an illustrative example: Women's appearance and manner of dress are believed to be the direct cause of sexual assault in fundamentalist Islamic cultures - and thus strict social conventions are directed at the women to "protect their sexual integrity." Yet women are still periodically raped in these societies - and when this occurs, they are blamed, and may even be stoned to death for it. So clearly, staying indoors, being escorted by family members, wearing a burqa 24/7, and otherwise cloistering oneself STILL doesn't prevent sexual assault. Additionally, the belief that the women are the instigators of sexual assaults has led to severe oppression, human rights violations, and suffering worldwide.

What does that tell you about the effectiveness of putting responsibility for sexual assault prevention on the potential victims?