15 of 22

No

Write now Article Tools

I come from a country where a woman is raped every 26 seconds. Welcome to South Africa - where rape is not seen as a real crime. Most women don't even bother reporting it. If the assailant isn't known to the victim, the police often don't bother to investigate the incident. If they do arrest the man, justice isn't served. The courts treat the woman as if she was asking for it. They paint her as a promiscuous tart with low morals. Ultimately the judge rules that there is insufficient evidence and the rapist is released.

Rape is so commonplace that on hearing about another attack, you just shrug and say at least she wasn't killed. If the woman was walking alone at night when the attack happened, the response is Well she was stupid to be out alone at night'.

The truth is that no woman asks to be raped. Rape is about aggression towards women. It is about gaining power over women. Rapists are opportunists. It doesn't matter if the victim is 10 years old or 70 years old, if the man feels the urge and sees a woman or girl in a vulnerable situation, he will grab her and rape her. It isn't about the clothes she wears, how good looking she is, or how flirtatious she is.

There are ways women can try and avoid becoming another statistic like not wondering around empty streets on their own at night, by making sure that they never leave drinks unattended in a bar, by locking their car doors when driving alone and generally just being alert.

Even if a woman is cautious, the risk of being raped isn't eliminated. It can happen to anyone at any time. When I was 14 years old I met a girl at school who had been raped by her uncle. Her mother told her that she had brought it on herself. The poor child was overwhelmed with guilt and tried to commit suicide several times.

So was she irresponsible and asking for it? Yes, she was irresponsible to trust her uncle and not think of him as a potentially dangerous man. Yes, she was irresponsible by treating him with respect and love. Yes, she was irresponsible by being female.

You may argue that that the situation is the exception to the rule, sadly it isn't. It is said that 73% of rape victims know their assailants. Women are raped by co-workers, family members, dates and friends everyday and society seldom sees this as true rape. Why is rape only shocking when a girl is brutally attacked by an unknown man in a mask? The bottom line is rape is sexual assault. It is when a man forces a woman to have sexual intercourse without her consent.

If only 27% of rapes are committed by strangers then it must mean that women shouldn't be allowed to walk in public alone, be left alone with male relatives or co-workers. It means that women should not go to bars or social events, because this is irresponsible behaviour and she deserves to be raped.

Woman deserve to be treated as men's equals, we should have the freedom to be ourselves, dress how we want to and do as we please. We shouldn't have to live in a world where we have to be suspicious of men and constantly look over our shoulders. To say that some women are raped due to their irresponsible behaviour is to place the blame on them. This isn't fair, there is only one person to blame and that is the rapist.

Learn more about this author, Jacqueline Baz.
Click here to send author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about Are some victims of rape irresponsible??
We want to hear your view. Write now!