Victim blaming. Why is this such a big deal?
Victim blaming occurs when the victim of a crime is held partially or entirely responsible for the crime that happened to them.
So I say again, why is this such a big deal?
Let me put it this way. Why should someone be blamed for something that happened to them, and the person that did the action not be blamed at all? Blaming someone for something that has happened to them doesn't even make sense! If someone came to you and told you that they were being abused by their significant other, you wouldn't blame them for getting abused. Would you even think about saying, "If you had only not gone out with your friends when he told you not to, you wouldn't have been hit." So why is it OK to tell someone that has been sexually assaulted that "if you hadn't been wearing that" or "if you hadn't been drinking" that they wouldn't have been raped. We need to change rape culture, not only for victims but for the perpetrators. A friend of mine wrote an article a few weeks ago titled "America Has A Rape Problem," which is so true because people are afraid to acknowledge it. We are afraid to even say the word "rape," referring to it instead as sexual assault. But that is an umbrella term for more than one thing. Rape is a problem.
Rape plagues college campuses, bars, houses. Rapists are your friends, your neighbors and in the worst case scenario, a family member. Every two minutes, someone, somewhere in America, is sexually assaulted. Now if that statement didn't scare you, think about this: one in five women are raped and 54 percent of women will not report it.
Why don't people report this? Because we live in a society where you will be blamed for coming forward about being sexually assaulted. In the case of The People of California v. Brock Turner, he was sentenced to six month probation, further showing people that they shouldn't come forward, because nothing will be done to help them at all. You can't tell me that you wouldn't be afraid to say something if that person would be able to walk free with little to no punishment.
Changing rape culture means that we need to teach our sons not to rape, not teach our daughters not to get raped. I shouldn't have to feel afraid to walk from the library to my dorm alone. I shouldn't have to worry about pulling my skirt down because it may be a little too short. Why should I have to go to the bathroom with several other girls, because I don't want to get cornered by some guy that has had too much to drink? And why should a completely valid answer to when someone asks why it happened be, "she was asking for it?"
