Rape culture
noun - a society or environment whose prevailing social attitudes have the effect of normalizing or trivializing sexual assault and abuse.
“You have to look at the way she was dressed. She was wearing a thong with a lace front.” A criminal trial in Ireland, in which the lawyer of a man accused of rape cited the lacy underwear worn by a woman as a sign of her consent. OUR CHOICE OF CLOTHES does not invite rape, RAPISTS do. Our mindsets have been manupilated into thinking that, it is the victim’s fault that she is assaulted due to wearing a certain type of clothes (in which the victim is perfectly comfortable) or arousing a person or people , into raping them and that it is primarily a women’s responsibility to not ‘indulge in activities’ which might make them victims of sexual violence. Blaming the victim for the atrocities caused simply degrades their mental state and makes it hard for them to express their difficulty and report it. RAPE IS NEVER THE VICTIM’S FAULT, and it is high time we understood that.
Moving on to ‘RAPE JOKES’. “I’d rather be raped by 12 prostitutes than touch alcohol and the Punjabi says ‘Me too, I didn’t know that was an option” was a so called ‘joke’ cracked by Bollywood actor Jim Sarbh to entertain his fellow actors. It is disgusting that people find a joke on such a heinious crime humorous. We cannot crack jokes on an issue such as rape, it can traumatize victims to a great extent and put out a message that normalizes rape. This behavior is not normal, it is inhumane.
She wept as she described how she’d gone to the police and they didn’t believe her. She wept as she told people how the entire village turned against her. As she spoke, she took the edge of her sequined-trimmed sari, the color of mangoes, and wiped her cheeks. “The villagers have all been very bad to me,” the woman said. “Nobody believes me. They think I’m faking it. They said they will kill me if I don’t go back on my words. I’m helpless.”
Victims not being taken seriously when they report rapes – a major example of rape culture. People often brush away the victim’s complain and do not make an effort to hear them out. This deeply traumatizes the victim and renders them helpless. What can they do? Thus the victims usually don’t ponder much, overcome with shame, they just decide to keep shut and silently suffer. We humans have to understand that rape is not normal and it is not a matter that we can brush off.
Instead of explaining the concept - not to rape, we are taught measures to prevent rape. We are claimed to be ‘exaggerating and overreacting’, we are told to sit properly, dress properly.
THE VICTIM IS BLAMED.
And this is not okay.