Women are told to avoid walking back alone after dark, to avoid dressing provocatively, to avoid getting too drunk, and to avoid walking in particular areas of town. If a woman gets attacked, people say: "well, she was quite drunk, so maybe she was up for it at the time," or "well, she *was* wearing *that* red dress." It's a culture of victim blaming when the reality should be that no matter what, it is NEVER OK to do anything to somebody without their consent.

We should have the right to feel safe walking down streets at night. They're our streets too. We shouldn't have to avoid particular areas after dark because some people out there might be waiting to rape us. Instead, those people should be stopped from raping. They should be prosecuted and punished in order to make an example out of them. Letting such crimes slide would only help justify it, which leads to blaming the victim instead of the criminal.

The Rape Abuse Incest National Network (RAINN) estimates that there are approximately 207,754 sexual assault victims in the United States, 44% of them are under the age of 18 and 80% are under the age of 30. In addition, 97% of the rapists and offenders don't spend even a day in jail. This is truly sickening and horrifying. The fact that such people are not prosecuted for their crimes leads more people to do it, and in fact it encourages the offender to commit the same crime over and over again.




The picture above was taken from this site: https://www.bangsandabun.com/2011/04/rape-is-not-invited/

When I say culture, I mean the bigger global culture, rather than any specific one. Obviously rape culture and "slut shaming" is not advertising itself blatantly and so in this sense no society "teaches" us the above. It does so more insidiously, by suggesting women are to blame. Just because no one goes around saying: "women deserved to be raped", doesn't mean that rape culture is not fully present in their suggestion "oh she was provocative", "oh she shouldn't have been drunk", "she shouldn't have dressed like that". The suggestion/undertones are clear. Society at large does not EXPLICITLY "teach" rape culture/"slut shaming," but I believe one has to look beyond the superficial and acknowledge that it does so implicitly, through popular media and TV for example, which is by far more dangerous than blatantly sexist statements because the reality is, in today’s modern world, the media is where young people get their morals and ideas from. It is these subtle "teachings" from society that are the most harmful because young people take them in and further perpetuate them without realizing what they’re doing.

I don't think that it's only the offenders themselves who use such excuses. Well perhaps it depends on the type of people you know (although perhaps not because its not like the people I know could be classed in any way that is seen as negative), but I personally have good friends (who of course would never rape) whom I was surprised to find shared, to varying degrees, views which to an extent put some blame on the woman attacked. Nothing is more frustrating and shocking than hearing a close friend share such views. If only it were the case that only despicable offenders use such language! Women are advised to do certain things to AVOID being raped like avoiding dark places and having their keys out when they go home at night so that they're not rummaging through their bag in front of their front door. All I'm asking for is more emphasis on the blameworthiness of the attacker rather than (if any at all) of the victim.