Activist Communique: Best advice ever to avoid rape? - Don't dress like a slut

Sineed, can you modify that just a touch.... make that straight men between 16 and 80?

Oops, don't know why that posted twice.

I got in a long discussion about this on a friend's facebook wall. I was pretty shocked by how many people share Mr. Fish's view (which, incidentally, has been removed by a rabble editor, or perhaps by Krystalline herself).

At any rate, the comment by the cop is appalling. It would be nice to see if the PD sent out a public statement outlining exactly why it was so wrong, since apparently so many people (including its own employees) don't quite understand why. Most objections I've seen seem to be about the language.

After posting the link to the offending blog comment, I wanted to leave it up so that people had a chance to read it.  Bloat's opinion is not exactly an extreme one in mainstream society, and that is both disappointing and frustrating.

The word slut was used...  tisk tisk.  The larger issue is that women, and the way they look are being blamed for rape.

**this is the sound of me beating my head on my worktable**

While there are things one can do to reduce the likelihood of being a victim of any crime, ultimately the responsibility is on the person committing the act.

Much better advice would be to just be a friend and look out for one another, for example not leaving drinks unattended or intervening if your friend starts behaving strangely. This cop should have known better. When I was with the Katimavik program, we had an officer speak to our group, and that's exactly what she told us, she never said anything that would suggest if we got in trouble that we were ultimately to blame.

Here's a question: Suppose you leave your car keys in the ignition while warming it up and someone steals it while it's unattended? Would people be so willing do dismiss the crime in that situation? When Manitoba Public Insurance forced people to buy immobilizers for their cars depending on the risk of auto theft, some people were indignant about the extra cost.

my god, that person arguing that dress is a factor after the article is seriously misguided and doesn't appear to have any knowledge of the topic or any interest in learning.

The idea that dress somehow makes the crime "less violent" or wrong, or lessens the responsibility of the attacker and puts culpability on the victim is insane.

The point is that if someone says "no, i don't want to have sex with you" once or repeatedly you have an obligation to stop.  there is no excuse.

If you can't control yourself in that regard, you are a dangerous unstable person, period.  

Ken Burch wrote:

Bacchus wrote:

I can't wait to see their next set of lectures:

 

To avoid race crime -Don't be black

To avoid gay beatings- Dont be gay

To avoid poverty - Dont be poor

To avoid murder-Don't be alive?

To avoid Taxes don't....Oh wait a minute...you can't avoid taxes (dead or alive)!!!!

One doesn't need to go to a muslim country to find a "real rape victim."  Blaming girls and women for male violence happens around the world.

I think I might renew my subscription now.

This is pathetic.  DP wasn't necessary.

milo204 wrote:

this whole idea of victim blaming is again rearing it's ugly face in the winnipeg free press letters section.  Unfortunately some of the most prominent defenders of "well, she was dressed too sexy!  She shouldn't have been surprised she was raped!" have been women....

Could it be that there was an editorial choice to include more letters from women on this issue?  Is it representative of the actual response?

Let us look at this question from the point of view of the officer in imparting the advice. If we presume that the goal was to provide information about how to avoid being targeted by a rapist, and if we presume that rapists do in fact tend to target women who are dressed in what may be deemed a revealing (as opposed to slutty or, 'like a slut') fashion, then advising that women avoid dressing in such a manner does constitute a logical argument. Of course, the presumptions are open to debate and in the absence of scientifically valid statistical data (which may or may not in fact exist, but which in either event I do not possess) to confirm or deny those presumptions, one is left with empirical evidence upon which to rely. If this officer's anecdotal, empirical evidence tends to substantiate the advice offered, would he/she not be remiss in failing to pass that information along? Perhaps this is an example of an unfortunate choice of words coupled with an unfortunate, apparent reality. If so, let us not "shoot the messenger" for conveying a message we find difficult to hear.

Thanks Caissa, but don't encourage me. 

I'm perplexed by your style, "IH8TTC2." Welcome to babble. Your handle, your decision to use as your profile pic a "Vote for Ford" campagin poster on a left-wing website, your dubious claim to be "transgendered"--these all lead me to believe you are an obnoxious troll. However, while your views are politically odious, your rhetorical style hasn't matched the obnoxiousness of your profile. As I said, perplexing.

As you have been informed by our welcoming committee (Hi Maysie!), your idiosyncratic views on rape are unacceptable. Please re-read the babble policy statement before you decide whether or not you and babble make a good fit. If you're unsure what a "pro-human rights, pro-feminist, anti-racist, queer-positive, anti-imperialist and pro-labour stance" looks like, try reading around a bit. Because if you continue to post anti-feminist ignorance like your above post, you won't be around here long.