This Is Not an Invitation to Rape Me
September 9, 2011
In a 2005 poll, what percentage of people said that a woman was partially or totally responsible for being raped if she was drunk? The answer? A whopping (and appalling) 28 percent.
This is one of the questions and answers that appear in the “Do you know” section of Scotland’s current campaign against sexual assault, called This Is Not an Invitation to Rape Me. This campaign started in New York City in 1994 as a series of posters and public service announcements and focuses on the still popular, though offensively incorrect, notion that victims are often partially to blame in their own sexual assault.
This Is Not an Invitation to Rape Me, which is now a Scotland-based Web site, focuses on four ways that rape victims are often blamed for being sexually assaulted: dress, intimacy, drinking and relationships.
- Just because someone is dressed provocatively doesn’t mean she secretly wanted it;
- Just because someone is flirting or kissing or touching doesn’t mean she has forfeited her right to say no;
- Just because you’re in a relationship doesn’t mean your partner can force you to have sex;
- Just because someone has been drinking, doesn’t mean there is an open invitation to take advantage of him or her.
The This Is Not an Invitation to Rape Me campaign, besides having a brilliant, attention-grabbing name, has an extremely user-friendly Web site. Check out the Web site for yourself, and spread the word. There shouldn’t be anyone walking around thinking that sexual assault victims are at fault when they are raped.
Posted In: Abuse & Violence
Tags: dating violence | rape | sexual assault