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'It's your fault!' and the antirape campaign in India
I am in no way judging India. In terms of women’s rights and violence against women, many of us are India.
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“It’s your fault!” — this is an accusation women around the world are used to having hurled at them when they are sexually harassed, raped or even when their husbands leave them for other women. (Shutterstock/-)
“It’s your fault!” — this is an accusation women around the world are used to having hurled at them when they are sexually harassed, raped or even when their husbands leave them for other women.
Today I came across it as the title of a three-and-a-half minute Indian video on YouTuve: Rape — It’s your fault.
Watching it initially made me frown, then smile, albeit reluctantly and with a great deal of chagrin. Two attractive Indian actresses in dulcet tones take turns talking about rape. One asks, “Do you think that rape is something that men do out of a desire for control? Empowered by years of patriarchy? You’ve clearly been misled by the notion that women are people too. Because let’s face it, ladies — rape, it’s your fault! It all begins with what you wear.”
I started to squirm, but thought, there has to be something behind this, yet braced myself for further discomfiture. The young woman continues to say that studies show, what women wear is the leading cause of rape. Why’s that? “Because men have eyes.”
