It is horrible to think that someone can't express themselves though what they choose to wear in the fear that if they are raped that they will be accused of provoking it by what they wear. I mean the rapist should be the one on trial not the victim! Haven't they suffered enough.

Rape isnt about sex, its about control and asserting dominance, so No I really dont think that what you wear increases your chances of getting raped.

No one asks to be raped. Wear what you want. You don't deserve to be raped because of your choice of clothing.

I feel like rapist are mentally ill, and don't go by the same standards as some one who believes that rape is wrong. So I also don't think that rapist care about "what" the person is wearing, they are just looking for a "target"

I am sad that this was flagged as this is a very important issue. People don't want to talk about rape, but not talking about it is so much worse. Thank you for posting this discussion.

Are we talking stranger danger here or date rape? Because there is a huge huge difference.

When it comes to stranger danger, I don't think clothing matters in the slightest bit.

When it comes to date rape, I think it's a signal to the guy that the girl might be a little "easier" than most and coupled with her actions it can lead to very bad things. And what I mean by that, before someone jumps down my throat, is women are notorious cock teases. If the wrong guy is teased and he is shot down, that makes him angry. This can lead to violence and rape.

My sister was date raped by a guy we had known for YEARS. He thought she was super easy because she worked at a cocktail club and wore tiny outfits at work but ultimately she was extremely conservative - and a virgin. He didn't stop when she said no because she had been sending him signals all night long that she wanted to play.

What he did was wrong, dead wrong. And it messed her up for years and years. She stopped dressing that way and she stopped running her mouth. In a way, I kind of think he saved her life. There's no telling what kind of trouble she would have found herself in if she had continued the way she was going. She's a cautionary tale.

nothing you wear or don't wear will increase the "chance" of being sexually assaulted.
Its entirely the offenders fault.
even a chastity belt wont stop you from being sexually assaulted.

I'm actually really glad to see that the vast majority of posts on this subject have been squarely in the "her clothing does not mean she's asking for it" pile. If only the rest of the world was as enlightened.

For me, I think the assumption that clothing makes a difference is offensive to both men AND women. On one hand, it implies that rape victims are at least partly responsible for someone's completely unexpected and unwanted attack. On the other, it implies that men are basically all sex-fiends who are completely incapable of controlling themselves. It works on the theory that an average guy can see an attractive woman, get aroused... and then absolutely HAVE to penetrate her, no matter what she says or does. I don't believe for a moment that most men think that way. We all have fantasies, and we've probably all misread signals at some point, but that doesn't make someone a rapist.

Rapists look for opportunity and easy targets. Some (a minority) have a particular "type" of victim that they target, but most will just take what they can get. This is as true for stranger rapes as it is for date rapes. It's not about sexual desire, it's about power and humiliation.

For what it's worth, I was raped by someone I was in a relationship with. We already had a sexual relationship. If he wanted to act out of sexual desire, then that need could easily be filled... But what he actually wanted was to punish a woman and see her suffer. I happened to be the easiest target for him, because I was there and because he figured out how to control me.

Did I blame myself for sending him "signals"? Sure. I blamed myself for years... but the fact is he took something consensual and deliberately turned it into something non-consensual, for no other reason than that he really hated women. That's what rapists do. He wasn't looking for consensual sex. He could have had that much more easily.

I think, for me, it's sad that rape still carries this "blame the victim" mentality a lot of the time. If someone burgled my house, the police wouldn't care if it was painted a particularly "provocative" color! It wouldn't matter if my huge TV was visible through the front window. A burglary is still a burglary, regardless.

We protect ourselves against crime by making it more difficult for the criminal to act. In a burglary, I'd do well to have a good lock and a big dog. In rape and sexual assault, it usually comes down to self-confidence and avoiding situations where you're going to be alone with someone you don't know. Those things aren't absolute protections, but they're a good start. And, well... in my opinion, blaming the victim's clothing makes it EASIER for rapists to do what they do. It makes it less likely that a victim will report them. It makes women nervous and fearful. It's a habit that we really need to stop.

I honestly have no idea. I wouldn't even want to assume what a rapist is thinking before they act. But, as with anything else, I sure there are many variables involved. One of which could possibly be clothing (or lack thereof). I'm sure each case is different, and what holds true for one sick and depraved individual may not hold true for the next.

I don't think it's clothing that is the deciding factor, or even a contributing factor. In my opinion, rapists look for women they think will be easy targets-it's a power thing. If a woman is wearing a miniskirt, but looks like she is confident and will fight, she probably won't be as likely to be targeted as a woman who may be wearing very conservative clothing, but looks scared and walks with her head down. (I'm saying women because most [reported] survivors are female)
Also, the stereotype of the guy who jumps out of a dark alley is just that-most rapists are known to the person they targeted.

As far as I'm concerned rape is about power not about sex, it's about degrading the victim and exerting power over them. So no I don't think clothing plays a role in most rape cases but there are always exceptions to the rule as with anything else.

Not all rapists are motivated by the attractiveness of someone, but I really, really doubt that wearing such clothing as shown in the reference pics isn't going to garner such attention. I don't ever see women dressed that way unless they are prostitutes. I could see a man approaching a woman dressed like that, assuming she's a prostitute, and things moving along from there. Prostitutes do tend to get raped pretty often I'm afraid.

I do think that clothing shouldn't matter, but if you look that way then it's only logical (for people) to assume you are 'easier' and thus puts sex more on the mind. But again, most rapists aren't in it for getting off, but more for power.

I think that rape could happen to anyone, but it does make you more vulnerable with the clothes you wear.

Yes, I think that dressing seductively can increase your chances of being raped, but that's more because you are putting yourself on the radar than anything else. Dressing more conservatively shouldn't be treated as a solution. Ultimately a woman should be able to wear whatever she wants and not have to worry about whether or not she's going to be raped.

Considering that nuns, old women and babies get targeted by rapists who often claim that the clothing attracted them, no, there's no way.

Not going through all the posts, but there was a study done that claims that only 4% of rapists remember what their victims are wearing at the time of the rape.

So I'd say no, clothing plays a very little role. The only factor that has any bearing is the rapists decision to rape someone.

It doesn't matter what you wear, it should increase or decrease your chance of being raped.

Oh ho ho ho....this is a tricksy topic.
To touch with 10 foot pole or not...

Meh, I got the time.

A couple years back, a family member was raped by her boyfriend (a co-worker) at her job.
"Well, what was she wearing Mistress Paper?" you ask.
"Ah, well, that's a tricky thing to answer. It was her job uniform, but she was a lifeguard for a pool, so it was a bathing suit," I reply.
Did she deserve that? No. Did she ask for it? Nope.
To the rapist, it didn't matter what she was wearing, it was time to violate basic human rights and her clothing (or almost lack thereof) didn't matter.
It was about control and power. Nothing more, nothing less.

Having certain hair color can trigger the rapist. Like if they are looking for someone who reminds them of someone they know. So I think that for sure the clothes you are wearing make a difference. It really depends on what the rapist is looking for. There are some that go for grannies and other that go for the girl who appears to be easy(at least dressed that way), when she says no they get carried away. It really does not matter what you are wearing they if you fit their victim profile, you run the risk of being their victim. I do think that is some cases when you dress a certain way, in that persons(the rapist) head it is inviting. I think you are aksing for trouble when you dress this way, which is why I do not outside of the bedroom.

I voted no for multiple reasons:

I was molested as a child and didn't wear such things.

When I was sexually assaulted as a teen, I never dressed provocatively; I dressed very conservatively, yet it did not matter. Horrible people like rapists take what they want whenever they want it, and I can relate to anyone out there that's been through the stuff girls and women like me had to go through.

One thing I hate is how popular the term 'rape' has become when referring to video games,etc. Like when someone says, "Oh, I totally raped that dude since my character is higher leveled." People really should think about how insensitive such statements are and I hear such terms quite often.