To whom it may concern,
I was just reading yet another article a friend shared on facebook about rape and how we should shift the focus from blaming the victim to the perpetrator. About how this male dominated society is always quick to focus on why the woman was outside at such n such time, wearing so and so, doing this n that, et al yada yada. Well even though I am sure that this article (like all other similar articles, pictures, etc before it) will do the usual rounds at facebook, get the usual number of "likes", "shares" and "comments", at the end of the day when yet another girl in a LBD is raped outside a discotheque at 2 am, she will be treated exactly the same as the others and will end up a statistic and maybe churn out a fresh batch of "outraged comments" on the issue. Meanwhile, our good old male dominated society will spring along on its way.
Not that I think that creating awareness about the issue (or any issue) by way of using social networking sites is a bad idea (in fact, it is a very good idea, as far as awareness goes - but that goes only so far coz awareness is only the 1st step, whereas most people think that is the end of it). Anyway, it's just that the people who will share, like and comment on this topic are the same people who think that sharing grotesque pictures of deformed babies will make facebook send money to the parents for that operation the child so desperately needs, the same people who will click on that link to see too-good-to-be-true videos of some random hot woman doing a random hot thing because something like that can **never** be spam!, the same people who will reshare every warning about "facebook will become paid unless you share so n so status/picture" and every other utterly ridiculous n idiotic thing, so pardon me if I don't have that much confidence in these click-happy monkeys changing the world for the better. :)
But I digress. No! This post is not the usual crib crib bitch bitch story of "y u no blame the guy!". No. This post is about showing clearly how people sound when they try n blame a victim's actions for a crime committed against them. Allow me to elaborate. If our society has deemed that one should blame the victim for such an act and not believe her version (never mind that the law is actually exactly the opposite which, actually, is also not good - but that is another ball game altogether), then for argument's sake let us accept that n move on. But of course let us not discriminate here and apply this amazing tried and tested formula on every other crime as well and see how that goes.
So you get for example, in a case of murder - OMG! Mr. A was alive? At 3 am! No way!!! And I heard he was flaunting his life too. Totally breathing n all! Actually BREATHING! AT FRIGGIN' 3 AM! You don't say!? He deserved to get killed. Totally had it coming. Besides, Mr. B? He doesn't look like he could take someone's life. But even if he did, I would understand that. After all Mr. A had no business being alive that late at night - and on top of everything else, breathe? That is just inviting to get killed, I tell you!
Or in a case of theft or dacoity - Mrs. A had money? What? She had a watch and a mobile phone with her? NO WAIII!! She actually had money in her purse? IN HER PURSE? Just think about it! And she was wearing, like, clothes! Anyway, what was she doing wearing good clothes, a watch, purse and carrying a mobile phone. What? She was inside her flat? You mean the one in that complex? No wonder she got robbed. What was she doing living in a flat? Flaunting that she could RENT A FLAT? AND have enough money left over to buy clothes, a watch n mobile phones? The cheek! She was just inviting the dacoits wasn't she?
Now that totally makes sense, right? So by all means, let us all point fingers at the girl who got raped. And then when all the constant badgering n "talk" about her character, etc goes to her head and makes her distracted enough to be made mincemeat of by a defence attorney thanks to which the case gets thrown out for lack of evidence, let us go up in arms and start with a fresh facebook war on how "the justice system has failed the poor raped girl".
Sincerely,
The defence attorney making mincemeat out of these rape victims' testimonies.
I was just reading yet another article a friend shared on facebook about rape and how we should shift the focus from blaming the victim to the perpetrator. About how this male dominated society is always quick to focus on why the woman was outside at such n such time, wearing so and so, doing this n that, et al yada yada. Well even though I am sure that this article (like all other similar articles, pictures, etc before it) will do the usual rounds at facebook, get the usual number of "likes", "shares" and "comments", at the end of the day when yet another girl in a LBD is raped outside a discotheque at 2 am, she will be treated exactly the same as the others and will end up a statistic and maybe churn out a fresh batch of "outraged comments" on the issue. Meanwhile, our good old male dominated society will spring along on its way.
Not that I think that creating awareness about the issue (or any issue) by way of using social networking sites is a bad idea (in fact, it is a very good idea, as far as awareness goes - but that goes only so far coz awareness is only the 1st step, whereas most people think that is the end of it). Anyway, it's just that the people who will share, like and comment on this topic are the same people who think that sharing grotesque pictures of deformed babies will make facebook send money to the parents for that operation the child so desperately needs, the same people who will click on that link to see too-good-to-be-true videos of some random hot woman doing a random hot thing because something like that can **never** be spam!, the same people who will reshare every warning about "facebook will become paid unless you share so n so status/picture" and every other utterly ridiculous n idiotic thing, so pardon me if I don't have that much confidence in these click-happy monkeys changing the world for the better. :)
But I digress. No! This post is not the usual crib crib bitch bitch story of "y u no blame the guy!". No. This post is about showing clearly how people sound when they try n blame a victim's actions for a crime committed against them. Allow me to elaborate. If our society has deemed that one should blame the victim for such an act and not believe her version (never mind that the law is actually exactly the opposite which, actually, is also not good - but that is another ball game altogether), then for argument's sake let us accept that n move on. But of course let us not discriminate here and apply this amazing tried and tested formula on every other crime as well and see how that goes.
So you get for example, in a case of murder - OMG! Mr. A was alive? At 3 am! No way!!! And I heard he was flaunting his life too. Totally breathing n all! Actually BREATHING! AT FRIGGIN' 3 AM! You don't say!? He deserved to get killed. Totally had it coming. Besides, Mr. B? He doesn't look like he could take someone's life. But even if he did, I would understand that. After all Mr. A had no business being alive that late at night - and on top of everything else, breathe? That is just inviting to get killed, I tell you!
Or in a case of theft or dacoity - Mrs. A had money? What? She had a watch and a mobile phone with her? NO WAIII!! She actually had money in her purse? IN HER PURSE? Just think about it! And she was wearing, like, clothes! Anyway, what was she doing wearing good clothes, a watch, purse and carrying a mobile phone. What? She was inside her flat? You mean the one in that complex? No wonder she got robbed. What was she doing living in a flat? Flaunting that she could RENT A FLAT? AND have enough money left over to buy clothes, a watch n mobile phones? The cheek! She was just inviting the dacoits wasn't she?
Now that totally makes sense, right? So by all means, let us all point fingers at the girl who got raped. And then when all the constant badgering n "talk" about her character, etc goes to her head and makes her distracted enough to be made mincemeat of by a defence attorney thanks to which the case gets thrown out for lack of evidence, let us go up in arms and start with a fresh facebook war on how "the justice system has failed the poor raped girl".
Sincerely,
The defence attorney making mincemeat out of these rape victims' testimonies.
