Lamia, wasn’t really looking for things to do during an assault, but rather prevention. We find it normal to say that one shouldn’t get into cars with strangers, pick up hitchikers, walk alone at night in crime areas, among some other tidbits that escape me at the moment. Now, this sort of general precautionary advice is just that: general. I am wondering if there are additional precautions that apply specifically to rape prevention. If there are, then there may be ways that a person can be negligent here.
It is my opinion that there is no “rape prevention” that isn’t already covered by general precautionary advice, and so there can be no negligence here that isn’t already negligence for other crimes. And of course for other crimes we do not (AFAIK) assign any responsibility to the victim, so we also shouldn’t here. General negligence of one’s own safety is not asking for an accident to happen as a rule.
But, I get the feeling that some women think there are precautions that apply only to rape (and are general, reasonable precautions—of course a matter open to debate itself but I don’t think it should be necessary). So then I wonder: well, whether I would blame the victim or not (which I wouldn’t!), if there is such behavior then there is the possibility of negligence in caring for one’s safety (which isn’t a crime or “asking for it” lest anyone care to interpret it that way).
How is wearing a bra a normal precautionary measure? I have heard people make remarks sucha as, " Look at her going around without a bra! She’s going to get herself raped."
Onr night I came home from the ceramics lab. I had been wearing a bra in the lab, but I had spilt slip and got soaked through. That was not normally the case so I did not have a spare. I was wearing regualr slacks, tennis shoes, a sweater, and a black knee length heavy overcoat. A friend walked with me until I got to my apartment and then took off for his own dorm. When I got upstairs to my own apartment I realized I was locked out. None of the neighbors in my stairwell were responding to a knock on the door, so I went 2 dorms down to call a friend with a car to drive me to my husband’s place of employment so that I could get keys to get in. On my way out, to walk a block to where my friend was, two men decided to harass me. One was walking backward directly in front of me, the other directly behind me. They were making lewd remarks and the one seemed to be trying to rip me. I was scared and felt threatened. I screamed in my deepest loudest voice, " get the FUCK out of my face" The one in front of me fell to the side in shock and the other staid with him. They started shouting threats about how I should watch out because I wasn’t that ugly and they were just that drunk. It was not far to my friends, and I made it there safely.
When I related this story to an acquaintances, the first thing that was asked was, “What were you wearing.” Generally my bralessness was blamed for their behavior.
Isn’t it obvious lee? Had they **been ** rapists, and torn open your shirt to find that you were in fact wearing a bra, they’d naturally have helped you back up.
Yes, there were women who were saying that about him being popular and her being ungrateful. The group I heard discussing the rape was about 50% women.