Rape-Culture and Victim-Blaming: A Rant

“For some offences, there is only retribution” – Nora Hawks

There are many abhorrent opinions that you encounter in life that stand against equality, scientific reason and logic (The UKIP manifesto covers all of these). Today, however, I’m here to rant and ramble about one specific and singularly disgusting trend that I see all too often both on the internet and in real life; the “culture” of victim-blaming.

I’m sure you’ll all encountered some twat or another at a pub or on an online message board who implies, infers or outright states that if someone (usually a woman) gets drunk, dresses up or in any way acknowledges the presence of a man, then she’s practically begging for sex and whether she’s held down or too out of it to resist, it’s the right of that man to take whatever he pleases. Now, I’m not going to go into what I deem to be the appropriate punishment for such scumbags but I will say it involves sulphuric acid, a blunt cleaver and a blowtorch.

There is a common myth perpetuated by the far right that rape is just consensual sex that a woman regrets later. For example, Todd Akin, an American politician, went as far as to say that women can’t get pregnant from rape because “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to shut that whole thing down.” First of all, let’s just take a second to let the stupidity of that comment sink in. This is the issue; a startling lack of proper education. Rape is often typified as a hooded stranger grabbing a girl off the street, dragging her into an alley and assaulting her as she begs him to stop. However, in the last five years, just 22% of sexual assaults reported in the UK were perpetrated by a stranger. The majority occur by either a partner or “friend” manipulating someone or waiting until they’re too drunk to function before taking advantage. Many rapists try to argue semantics in these cases; that it didn't really count as rape because she didn't struggle which is, of course, utter bullshit.

There are thousands of sexual assault crimes that go unreported every year because the victim is terrified of being judged or made to feel ashamed. In what other crime is that an issue? If someone sets you on fire, nobody would stand there and say “Well, what were you doing wearing such flammable clothing anyway? I think you really wanted to get set on fire.” Our society demands that the victim prove their own innocence rather than the rapist prove theirs and the really sad thing? This idea is in no way a new one. Gather round for story time:

Medusa was a beautiful woman who caught the eye of the Greek God Poseidon. He attempted to woo her but she rebuffed him, leading him to decide that he’d take what he wanted regardless of her wishes. She fled to the Temple of Athena and begged for protection. Athena did nothing and Poseidon raped Medusa on the floor of the temple (modern, more child friendly adaptations gloss over this part). Athena was so disgusted with Medusa being raped that she transformed her into a hideous creature that destroys the lives of men.

Think what this tale says about the victim. From then on, Medusa was known to the world as a freak and men should avoid her, all for the “crime” of being raped. The fact that the media and a depressingly large chunk of society still portray victims this way is something we should be ashamed of.

“Ah but Pete, you Samurai of Wisdom” I hear you cry “There are many examples of times when sexual assault IS invented and the man HAS had his life destroyed for nothing”. Well, imaginary reader who I created for the purposes of narrative, you've been misled (both about the sexual assault statistics and me being wise... or a samurai). There are a minute number of cases in which the assault is invented (just 2% of reported cases). The reason you've heard about ALL of those loudly and clearly is because it is in the interest of right-wing sensationalist journalism to mislead you into thinking that the victim is wrong. In all cases when reporting on sexual assault, the Daily Mail only refers to victims as “accusers” whilst the rapist gets their positive traits “football star” “dedicated athlete” mentioned repeatedly which leads the woefully stupid to conclude that the “accuser” MUST be trying to destroy this poor man.

The rise of internet pornography has also given rapists something new to blame in order to escape just punishment. For example, a case I read about today where a 12 year old boy raped his 7 year old sister and rather than the judge doing anything about it, it was decreed that it was probably the fault of porn and the boy was sent back to live with his family and sister. Giving these sick fucks another way of weaselling out of trouble should NOT be our focus; our sole focus should be to provide support to their victims who have just had their lives shattered.

Many universities have made the positive step to include, in their legislation, specific guidelines explaining to douchebag fratboy morons that, if the girl can barely stand, it’s just as much rape as if you’d put the roofies in her drink yourself. A common counter-argument to this tends to be “so, if I get drunk and hook up, it’s rape?” and to that I say “no” and also “stop being a twat”. Everyone knows the difference between two people getting drunk and going home together and a girl passed out being rutted on by some disgusting rapist cunt.

Personally, I feel a way that we all can help is by showing a bit more compassion when we’re out and about. If you see someone alone and completely gonzoed, maybe go over and see if they need a glass of water or a taxi home because it’s better that we do it than Douchey McRaperton, who you can bet has spotted this vulnerable girl and is planning on making his “move”. Equally, if Douchey gets there first and you see this girl being essentially dragged out the club, mention it to the bouncers. I know we’re all overly polite and don’t want to be a pain or accuse someone who could be legitimately trying to get the girl home safely but, surely, it’s better to be a minor inconvenience than potentially allow a scumbag to walk off with his chosen victim.

As we grow older, we become the parents, the politicians and the decision makers. Some day hopefully soon, the Daily Mail readers and UKIP voters will all die out but until then it’s our responsibility to stand up for what is right. We need to be the voices of reason, of tolerance and of justice; we need to ensure that those we vote into power have firm views on protecting the victims, not the perpetrators. This is why we need to encourage everyone to vote despite what people like Russell Brand say because you can be assured that the far-right, rapist defending dickwads will be casting their vote and there needs to be a unified voice against them.

I don’t know about you but I’m tired of my country being a place where a rapist can avoid conviction based on semantics or technicalities.

I’m tired of it being place where, if they manage to get convicted, a rapist can get out early on “good behaviour”.

Most of all, I’m tired of hearing this idea that somehow, a victim is at fault. That they should feel ashamed for what was done to them and that they get treated with scorn and suspicion when all they deserve is our compassion and our understanding. I’m sick of this alpha-male bullshit mentality that should have died out centuries ago.

I fucking hate rapists, I fucking hate people who make excuses for them and if that includes you, then I fucking hate you too.


Thanks for reading.