Rape

[Bob Kelso]

Here's the issue: this whole concept is a lot more knotty than you'd think.

Just to begin with, all this talk of teaching prevention and risk reduction is just a bandage over a bullet wound anyway, since it's next to impossible to pick who's going to do what, anyway. Sure, you can teach people not to go into dark alleys or accept drinks from strangers, and that's sensible enough advice, but most rapes aren't committed by strangers in dark alleys, that's just a popular stereotype. A lot of rapes occur with someone known to the victim, so what then? You're just gonna teach us all to be on guard around everyone we know, forever? Real life just doesn't function in a way in which victim preparedness will ever be enough.

And mostly, victim preparedness is all that's ever taught, when it comes to rape. For all the advancements we've made on this subject, rape is still a curiously socially acceptable crime; it's one of the few where the victim can be said to be "inviting" the crime via the way they dress or act, where the perpetrator can be excused because of any number of things... we live in a culture where sexual dominance over women is seen as a positive, manly trait, and this is the underbelly of that. This is something that needs to be addressed, but for the most part, where the issue isn't simply being ignored, all we seem to get are these preventative measures that just lay yet more of the onus of responsibility for the crime on the victim.

Oh I agree wholeheartedly with all of this. In no way do I find preventative measures to be a solution, I'm not sure that there is one to be found but I tend to be pessimistic when it comes to human criminality. I'm just saying that the rising trend of demonizing preventative talks is incredibly unhelpful and annoying.