'Rape victims can be partly responsible

[Commander CMG]

• Barbara Hewson questioned whether rape victims are 'utterly innocent'
  
• She argued they can have 'moral responsibility' at a university debate
  
• She also challenged the idea that 'victimisation must always be respected'
  

View: Read more

[CatFromHell]

Clearly if women leave the house we are inviting men to rape us, Thank you Miss Hewson for clearing that up for me. Also, Women are guilty of the crime of possessing a vagina, All these years we have been blaming the rapists! How wrong were we! A few weeks ago I was walking to catch my bus early in the morning to get to work when some lowlife druggy got a knife to me and tried to mug me . Someone came along and scared him off, But was that in fact my fault for having a job that requires me to leave the house, Should I employ a bodyguard ??

Edited November 1, 2013 by SheWomanCatTypeThing

[George Ford]

Ms Hewson is clearly an idiot, that photo of her gormless stare pretty much sums her up.

[seaturtlehorsesnake]

oh yes, the old, "women are guilty of the crime of existing in public" line.

[Dark_Grey]

Whoa, whoa, whoa. She is proposing that rape victims could be "partly responsible"; the operative word here is "partly". Making such a blanket statement is ridiculous as no two cases are alike, nor is EVERY rape victim even remotely "responsible" for what happens, but I think she has a point.

[CatFromHell]

Whoa, whoa, whoa. She is proposing that rape victims could be "partly responsible"; the operative word here is "partly". Making such a blanket statement is ridiculous as no two cases are alike, nor is EVERY rape victim even remotely "responsible" for what happens, but I think she has a point.

No. No woman should be held accountable (even partly) for her own rape, That suggests some victims want to be raped, Maybe you should interview some victims of rape? See how they view it?. If you were mugged walking down the street, Would you be partly responsible? Do you walk down the road thinking i hope I get mugged tonight?

Some people just don't realise how serious a crime rape is and what it can do to the victim. Implying that the victim has somehow bought it on herself is just cruel. Would we say the same for murder victims? Are they to blame for their own murder? Are child abuse victims to blame because they are children? No. Its the rapist that commits the crime, Not the victim.

Edited November 1, 2013 by SheWomanCatTypeThing

[Bendy Demon]

This old bat wouldn't be so flippant if her own children were raped.

That's kinda like saying that a child who is being abused is partly "responsible" because they misbehaved or something or

a husband trying to claim that he wouldn't have hit his wife if she hadn't made him angry. (strange how, at the same time, we seem to use that rationale to justify hitting children)

I do understand that if you are in an area that seems to be experiencing a higher rate of such crimes that it would be good for ALL to exercise more caution but in the end the person who commits the crime is responsible for their actions. It is pure stupidity to blame others by saying "If he/she didn't do this or that then I wouldn't have assaulted them.".

The whole article just ticked me off.

[CatFromHell]

This old bat wouldn't be so flippant if her own children were raped.

That's kinda like saying that a child who is being abused is partly "responsible" because they misbehaved or something or

a husband trying to claim that he wouldn't have hit his wife if she hadn't made him angry. (strange how, at the same time, we seem to use that rationale to justify hitting children)

I do understand that if you are in an area that seems to be experiencing a higher rate of such crimes that it would be good for ALL to exercise more caution but in the end the person who commits the crime is responsible for their actions. It is pure stupidity to blame others by saying "If he/she didn't do this or that then I wouldn't have assaulted them.".

The whole article just ticked me off.

Some women are misogynists. I think she may be one.

Edited November 1, 2013 by SheWomanCatTypeThing

[Bendy Demon]

Some women are misogynists. I think she may be one.

Hmm...I never really considered that angle. Still..I wonder if she was ever to become the unfortunate victim of a crime would her stance "magically" change?

I am betting it would.

[Dark_Grey]

No. No woman should be held accountable (even partly) for her own rape. If you were mugged walking down the street, Would you be partly responsible?

Some people just don't realise how serious a crime rape is and what it can do to the victim. Implying that the victim has somehow bought it on herself is just cruel. Would we say the same for murder victims? Are they responsible for their own rape? Are child abuse victims to blame because they are children? No. Its the rapist that commits the crime, Not the victim.

That's actually part of my point. As much as I dream of walking through downtown Detroit with fistfuls of cash hanging out of my pockets, I know that's probably not the safest thing to do. I can do it, there's no law stopping me from doing it, but I know I exponentially increase my chances of something happening. This is where the "partly responsible" bit comes into play:

Before I get into it, I want to preface this by excluding children from my examples. They don't know enough about the world around them to even know what precautions are, let alone when they should be taken.

This is not a perfect world. We all wish it was, but it isn't. I wish I could drive home every day never ever worrying about getting into an accident, but I still wear my seatbelt. I wish I didn't have to worry about drowning, but when I waterski I still wear my life-jacket. We all take precautions every day for situations that we know are unlikely, but aren't worth experiencing. Are there still victims that took measures to protect themselves? Of course! It's very tragic...but there are also victims who go head first through windshields because they thought they were invincible.

All I'm saying is that the idea of the rape victim always being completely blameless is bogus. There is a thing called "personal responsibility". Everyone knows there are murderers, rapists and thieves out there...doing irresponsible things like consistently getting blackout drunk and hoping for the best? Come on...most people have the common sense to avoid potentially dangerous situations, so why should this be any different?

Again, this in no way applies to every rape victim as I'm sure there are many that DID try and take precautions. But throwing caution to the wind and wondering why you became a victim?

Edited November 1, 2013 by Dark_Grey

[CatFromHell]

Hmm...I never really considered that angle. Still..I wonder if she was ever to become the unfortunate victim of a crime would her stance "magically" change?

I am betting it would.

You can bet your life it would. We could all live our lives thinking "i'd better not do this/go there because i might get raped" but thats not realistic. It can happen to anyone, anywhere and insinuating that the victim is responsible if that does happen is ridiculous, She may find out one day. I hope not but its possible.

[Bendy Demon]

It is sad we live in such a precarious world. We all should be free to wander our own world but there are those who insist on seeing everyone else as potential "prey" thus making the choice of whether or not to go out at night more of an issue of safety than anything else.

It doesn't matter how a person is dressed or how they behave, in the end every individual has a responsibility over their own actions but one should NOT be held responsible for anothers acts of crimes. (I hope that made sense...)

[CatFromHell]

All I'm saying is that the idea of the rape victim always being completely blameless is bogus.

I have nothing more to say on the subject.

[Dark_Grey]

I have nothing more to say on the subject.

Ok.

[CatFromHell]

Maybe I was a bit unfair and i see what your saying, which is nothing new, Maybe its the use of the word responsible that irks me so much. Nobody ever wants to get raped. Making them feel crappy afterwards does not help.

Edited November 1, 2013 by SheWomanCatTypeThing

[Bendy Demon]

Dark-Grey: We are not talking of car or boat safety here but about criminal acts committed on others.

But in the end it doesn't matter how the woman (or in some cases, the man) dressed or behaved...one cannot claim they "made" you commit a crime, you chose to let yourself get out of control.

[Dark_Grey]

Maybe I was a bit unfair and i see what your saying, which is nothing new, Maybe its the use of the word responsible that irks me so much. Nobody ever wants to get raped.

Absolutely...and for the record I was not at all implying that even the majority of rape victims "deserved" anything that happened to them. It's such a case-by-case crime it's unfair to throw blanket statements around. That is something the woman in the OP's article should have the maturity to understand.

[Dark_Grey]

Dark-Grey: We are not talking of car or boat safety here but about criminal acts committed on others.

But in the end it doesn't matter how the woman (or in some cases, the man) dressed or behaved...one cannot claim they "made" you commit a crime, you chose to let yourself get out of control.

The argument was never that the victim "made" anyone do anything. Treat crime as a constant: we all know it's out there, we all know it exists and probably always will, so we all should do what we can to avoid it. No rape SHOULD ever happen. Period. But unfortunately it does and in certain cases there were preventative measures that could have be taken but weren't. There and only there is where the "partly responsible" bit can be applied. If I left all my doors unlocked and my curtains wide open for a long weekend and found my house was robbed clean when I got back, I would blame the criminals.

I would always wonder "why the ---- didn't I lock up before I left?"

[bLu3 de 3n3rgy]

Some women are misogynists. I think she may be one.

Either that or she is revealing a predator mindset herself (a highly functioning psychopath) quite possible since she stated there isn't much that upsets her, coupled with this kind of souless logic on rape.

Predators commonly view victims to crime or misfortune as being partly to blame for walking into their trap or a trap. It is inherent in their souless logic to believe that they are in control of making things happen or not happen. So anyone who washes up on their 'shores' deserves to be the victim.

This of course is absolute rot and this article and this woman and people who think like her are utterly offensive. It is not true and nobody and i mean nobody asks to be the victim of a crime or of a predators game. There are sick twisted people out there who already know they are going to commit and are seeking a victim or waiting for an opportunity to arise. It's a gross distortion that this kind of crime is more likely to happen by a complete stranger in a dark street as well.

It doesn't matter if someone is even stark naked walking down a street, if a person says NO, then NO means NO.

And dark grey that analogy doesn't sit at all, peoples homes can be broken into even with high security. So the security measures are breached, then the crime takes place then what ? are you really saying it has to go to that length before a person deserves to feel violated?

[CatFromHell]

Maybe Dark_Grey is a chastity belt salesman?

[George Ford]

Even if a lass wears provocative clothing and walks about late at night by herself she would be just a bit stupid or naive maybe but is still in no way responsible for being attacked. I go out drinking down the town from time to time and see young lasses with virtually nothing on and drunk tottering around and sometimes walking home as they must have spent their taxi money. I get the impression that some of them are genuinely young (like 15-16yrs old) and naive and have no idea what evil is out there. You can't blame them if they've been brought up on Disney and Justin Bieber etc.

And as someone already pointed out, every case is different and should be treated and dealt with accordingly.

[Dark_Grey]

[...]And dark grey that analogy doesn't sit at all, peoples homes can be broken into even with high security. So the security measures are breached, then the crime takes place then what ? are you really saying it has to go to that length before a person deserves to feel violated?

Not at all. Again, we can't use absolutes because it's an unpredictable crime. We can, however, take measures to protect ourselves from those who would try and make victims out of us.

A high security home can be broken into, but in a neighbourhood of homes that take no measures at all it's the least likely to be broken into.

Maybe Dark_Grey is a chastity belt salesman?

My wife's family is Mormon but I'm not lol

[seaturtlehorsesnake]

you seriously need to do some research on rape culture and what it is before spouting off this same bs that a number of us have i'm sure heard 100 times before, dark_grey.

[Dark_Grey]

you seriously need to do some research on rape culture and what it is before spouting off this same bs that a number of us have i'm sure heard 100 times before, dark_grey.

You seriously need to learn how to objectively contribute to a discussion instead of just making generic comments.

[seaturtlehorsesnake]

this ain't exactly a subject i can contribute to "objectively" but whatever. I'm saying that your defense of the woman's statement is harmful and wrong. being raped is not the responsibility of the victim. it never is.