“I Wanted To Be Raped” - Said No One Ever It can be incredibly hard to empathize, to imagine what someone else is going through or feeling. It is so easy to say, “That will never happen to me”, and forget about it. If it doesn’t affect you it doesn't matter, right? Wrong. This is where the problem comes in. A simple apology does not equal understanding and it doesn’t change anything. I know it’s hard, but I need you to try. Try to understand. Try to empathize.
Imagine a young woman goes over to a friends house. A friend who happens to be a guy. A friend who she has hung out with before. Key word here: friend, a purely platonic relationship. They eat dinner, have a couple drinks, and watch a movie. During the movie, he tries to make a move
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Basically, the victim is blamed for the circumstances or the ever so common “wanting it”.
Victim blaming encourages victim guilt, prevents cases from being reported out of fear and ridicule, and excuses rape. It’s unacceptable and we can put a stop to it by educating the public on consent.
First things first: consent is not as simple as yes and no. There is no textbook response to being sexually assaulted (Harding).
“Stop, Enough.”is not consent.
Being unconscious is not consent.
Being drugged is not consent.
Being too shocked to respond is not consent.
Wearing revealing clothing is not consent.
By blaming victims you subject them to feeling guilty of a crime they didn’t commit and no one deserves that. “Survivors often speak of feeling like they have been the ones standing accused” (Leach). Why continue to punish someone who did nothing wrong in the first place?
If you want to stop rape, you need to stop victim blaming and educate people about the real meaning of consent. Will you let yourself encourage rape and persecute the innocent, or are you going to do something about