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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Victim blaming comment?

2 replies

JeanSeberg · 10/10/2015 13:02

Am I right to think this comment suggests the woman is to blame:

'She had shared the hackney taxi with a friend and a man she did not know'

Full story here

merseyside.police.uk/news/latest-news/2015/10/cctv-appeal-rape-borough-road-tranmere/

After all, women never get raped by men they know, right?

OP posts:
DiscoGoGo · 10/10/2015 13:29

I think the difficulty with some of this is that while it is factual, given the way these crimes are viewed something could be taken or meant as factual has all this subtext to it and lots of people will read it a certain way.

So if we didn't live in a culture where victims were blamed, a statement like "She had shared the hackney taxi with a friend and a man she did not know" would just mean what it says on the tin. In our society, it feels like flagging up "where she went wrong" as we know that is what happens in our society with sex crimes - the first question is "what did the victim do to bring this on themselves" unless the victim is particularly vulnerable (a baby, toddler or elderly person) or is a "perfect victim" eg a nun at lunchtime in a crowded area.

This is where the thing with "rape" comes in as well - people say oh well it's for legal reasons. But, it is applied in a very indiscriminate way, with "perfect" victims being raped while victims like the one in your story are often "raped". And while the people who say it doesn't matter say it's if there's an ongoing case then that's why, it's often applied in cases where nothing has been found or whatever. Interestingly a woman on the BBC was subjected to a sexual assault with none of this "" even though they are looking at footage, not sure why that particular reporter decided she wasn't "sexually assaulted" in that instance. And yes the "" make it sound like there is a question mark over the veracity of the report.

But yes I think there needs to be care with this stuff. The fact she had been out for drinks with friends - what relevance do the drinks have to the story? Apart from to present the reader with a narrative around she was asking for it / she was stupid and needs to take some responsibility / etc

scallopsrgreat · 10/10/2015 15:50

I think it's a pretty appalling report full stop. It isn't actually that clear whether the perpetrator was the man in the taxi. We are left to assume that.

I would read it the same as you Jean. If I was in a generous mood and gave the reporter the benefit of the doubt, I'd say they mentioned the fact because they hadn't identified the perpetrator and that was because the women didn't know him.

Agree with DiscoGoGo's post too.

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