Rape culture is when rape is normalised due to the fact the blame gets switched onto the victim, this is where you may have heard of sayings such as "what does she expect walking alone at this time?" or "she asked for it" people may think this is the case because of what she was wearing at the time, if she gave any impression that she liked the rapist. Never does it occur to these narrow minded, sexist, completely uneducated people that it was the rapists fault that he must have been sick in the head to do such an abusive thing to a woman who had no idea what was going to happen to her. Do these judges, professional judges that have done god knows how much studying to be a judge actually believe that the victims of such a horrific crime asked for it? Do they honestly think that if the power was in the victim's hands that they would let this happen and have to suffer with the consequences for the rest of their lives? Lets take another crime for example shooting someone. Would you blame the person being shot because the shooter assumed he was wearing a bulletproof vest? No because that is completely irrational and irrelevant just like blaming a victim of rape because of what they were wearing. It baffles me that people, judges anyone would even consider it being the victims fault in anyway whatsoever. Women should feel free to wear whatever they want at what time they want, wherever they are and not feel the need to carry pepper spray or feel anxious if they see a group of men or even one man walking towards them or behind, they should not have to look around and be on guard. The reason women feel they need to do these things is because men get away with it, men get away with rape which will encourage more rape because the blame is switched even before each side's stories are told.
The objectification of women's bodies in rape culture, media and pop culture gives the impression to men that women don't have feelings, that women aren't even human beings and are treated worse than animals due to the fact some men only want them for their bodies and their bodily functions. Basically comparing them to sex toys. Regardless of all this mistreatment towards women, women go through more pain, more struggle to get to where they want to go. People need to understand that women have ambition, hidden strength and feelings just as men do, yes we maybe a different gender but we have the same needs. In many music videos women are sexualised wearing next to nothing, containing provoking and sexual behaviour/gestures whereas men are fully clothed, seen as the dominating person and wearing formal clothes to show them as higher up to women. The outrageous behaviour in music videos like these are that when younger teenagers are watching this they're going to think that it's normal for women to act like that and guys are going to think it's normal to always play the dominant role to his future girlfriend and that they should be seen as higher up and not equal.
A shocking statistic showed that 70% of rape victims knew the rapist before the incident which totally shows that what someone is wearing or their behaviour towards the abuser has 0% impact on whether someone will be sexually abused. This fact is utterly scary because the victim and the rapist could already be in a relationship or be living together which means the chances are it has happened more than once. This also proves that rape isn't just something that happens at night while someone is intoxicated walking home alone from a night out it can happen anywhere whether that's in a working environment, at home, in any public building or public area.
1 in 5 women have experienced some form of sexual abuse (since the age of 16). So basically in an average class room 2 or 3 girls will be sexually abused, this is a truly distressing amount of women. Women have enough to deal with without the concept of constantly thinking in the back of their minds that it might be them or feeling scared if a man simply pays them a compliment because why would a man pay a woman a compliment without wanting something. The fact things have got so bad women, girls are afraid to walk alone in their own neighbourhood because of this concept.
I do not want to go on about this too long but if you are interested in reading more about this topic i will link you with a website with more statistics. I know it is highly unlikely that rape culture will ever die down but i have come up with a few ways we can decrease it and make things more positive.
Respect the fact that women have the same needs as men and that we are not sexual objects and never should be made to feel that way. Women have died fighting for equal rights to men so we should not let those respectful women down and follow their footsteps into making sure women's rights are heard, loud and clear. Women should feel free to talk about their sexual activity and not be ridiculed for it because everyone has the same needs. Make sure that men are not always seen as the dominant character whether that's in relationships, work, pop culture and in the media.
Make sure that if you hear someone say a sexist or degrading joke towards women or rape let them know that that kind of language is not acceptable. If you're a female say you don't feel comfortable with them talking in that manner, you don't have to be aggressive about it just let them know politely, most of the time that has more affect then shouting down someone's throat.
If someone ever tells you they've been raped whether that's a stranger or someone you know make sure you take them very seriously. Make sure you assure them if they are in doubt that it was the rapists fault and you will support them no matter what.
Always communicate with your partner make sure they know if you don't feel comfortable with anything or if they are mistreating you in any way. They might not realise so always be honest and communicate about it. Make sure you always have consent when in a sexual relationship and both people trust each other.
When reading magazines or watching/reading any type of media that you think critically about the messages being conveyed about men and women such as in music videos, songs, magazine articles. From a personal one i read the other day it was about Heidi Klum who saved her son and Nanny from downing. All the media cared about was the fact she had a nip slip and what a 'humiliation' it must have been not about how amazingly strong this women is to save not just one person but two from drowning while making sure she doesn't drown herself. Heidi was a strong hero and the media only care about her appearance. Plus make sure you don't believe everything you read and always think critically such as the roles they are portraying to men and women and how you can prevent this from being the norm and happening in everyday life.
Finally just generally be respectful to others, if someone doesn't like being hugged don't hug them, if someone doesn't like any type of physical contact don't touch them remember to respect people's personal space because everyone is different, no two people are the same.
I know this has been a really long post but its one i've been wanting to go since i started blogging, so please be respectful and don't leave sexist or degrading comments in reply because i don't want to waste my time reading that crap. Thank you for reading i really do appreciate it especially for this post :)
http://www.rapecrisis.org.uk/Statistics2.php
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