Slut-shaming and victim-blaming: keys to combatting rape

Last week, a mentally ill man declared that sexual crimes such as rape are due to insufficient amount of slut-shaming and victim-blaming. The man, who is a pseudo-academician at a local university, said that women’s body parts were not only seductive, but an invitation to rape. “The logic is simple. Women’s bodies are alluring and arousing,” said the man.

I do not understand the outpouring of hate towards the man. After vehemently criticising the minorities in the country for their alleged Ultra Kiasu-ness, the man is now going after half the population: the women. Somebody, give that man a medal of honour for his unwavering bravery to spread his stupidity!

Like this courageous man, I too believe too many men have fallen victims to these temptations to commit sexual crimes. In order to curb these temptations, we must intensify the efforts to blame and shame women who reveal their body parts, including their hairs, curves, lips, and skin.

Look, if a man fails to control his desire and rapes a woman who did not cover herself, who else can we blame but the woman? I could have cited a ton of research to support my claim but I don’t have the time to show it to you.

We should not blame men for anything. If a woman gets beaten up by her husband, she must have done something wrong like refusing to cook or provide happy ending. When a female politician gets a divorce, we will throw all kinds of questions at her. But when a male politician marries multiple wives (some of whom can be their daughters or granddaughters), we applaud him for his enduring “strength”.

Oh you unbelievers! Before you defend the women, let me remind you that this so-called feminism is a western product. We must not pander to the West and since feminism is imported from the West, we cannot accept that. However, patriarchy is fine. “Misogynism” is acceptable too since our very own MP once publicly made a sexist remark and escaped without punishment.

A cursory examination of rape statistics would surely enlighten my points. According to the Royal Malaysian Police’s statistics and Women’s Aid Organisation, rape crimes reached a peak in 2009 with 3,626 reported cases and has since been lingering about 3,000 cases. Keep in mind that out of every ten rapes, probably nine went unreported. Even then, out of these reported cases, only a small number was eventually convicted. According to Halida Ali, president of Perak Woman for Women Society, “In 2013, 2,111 men were reported responsible for raping girls under 18. A total of 461 were charged, and only 14 were convicted.”

I am sure this statistic is less interesting than the debate about a woman's body. I mean, how else can you explain the people’s occupation with how a woman should be dressed rather than the shockingly low rate of conviction. For example, take the 2013 statistics for raping girls under 18. 14 rapists out of 2,111 were convicted. Let us make a conservative estimate that for every reported rape, there are four that went unreported. So that makes 10,555 rapes. 14 out of 10,555 rapists were convicted. That is 0.001% conviction rate. You can make the calculation yourself if you do not trust me, which you shouldn’t anyway.

Thus, as part of the male segment of the society which committed most of the rapes, I would like to thank the mentally ill man, the patriarchal society, and the grossly inefficient criminal justice system for continuing the victim blaming and slut shaming cultures. Go on and debate if a woman should cover herself while every potential rapist is planning an attack, knowing that he will most probably get away with it.

Even better, I thank the authority for perpetuating rape myths such as “Women incite men to rape”, “Only bad women who misbehaved get raped”, Rape is an impulsive and uncontrollable act”, “Rapists are strangers”, or “Rape cannot occurs in a marriage”. Unlike the mentally ill man, I would actually cite a proper research to back up this claim. In a book called “Transforming a Rape Culture”, the researchers commented that, “Rape myths are attitudes and beliefs about rape and sexual assault that help fuel this rape culture. These widely held, culture-based beliefs may place blame on rape victims, excuse the actions of perpetrators, or blur the lines between rape and consensual sex.”

By perpetuating these rape myths, both the religious and secular authority helped to divert the debate from the real issues at stake. No substantive change to the number of rape cases will occur as a result of this “to cover or not to cover” debate because we are focusing on the wrong issues. Persistent rape cultures and systematic flaws of our criminal justice system are thankfully ignored, therefore rapists and potential rapists will not be cowed.

The slightest attempts to remove the rape myths, such as providing sex education, provoke harsh opposition from the guardians of society. I heard one intelligent man remarked two weeks ago, “teen pregnancies were the highest in areas that had aggressive and active promotion of sex education… I stress once more that sex education will not bring a positive impact, but will worsen social problems in society if it is not done based on Islamic methods.” The man was citing an unnamed research in the UK and let us all thank him for demonstrating the idiocy of someone who could not tell between cause and effect.

Gosh, imagine how terrible it is if boys are educated from the young age to respect women! Like you know, their parents, teachers, relatives, and friends teaching them to treat women like fellow human beings with equal rights (a sensitive word in Malaysia, mind you). Then tell the boys that if they ever think of disrespecting women or treating women as objects, they will end up like this: (Demonstration: Grab a knife and violently cuts a cucumber into half!) Repeat that lesson every night and soon enough the boys will be brainwashed into decent human beings.

Alright, fine. I accept the fact that women have been unjustifiably subjected to scrutiny in relation to sexual crimes. Let us help them by resorting to what we do best: rambling unproductively on Facebook and Twitter. I am calling for a new movement called “Don’t Drop Your Pants”. You can be part of the movement by hashtag-ing #DontDropYourPants or simply #DDYP. The “Don’t Drop Your Pants” movement offers the easiest solution to rape: Do not rape. We are lazy, so we skip the debate whether a woman should be covered or not. Since the attention has been mostly focused on the women, Don’t Drop Your Pants help by training the spotlight on men.

Before we ask women to cover themselves, let us lower our gaze. Before we criticize how a woman dresses, let us condemn those who whistle and harass the woman. Before we claim that a woman’s body causes rape, let us arrest the rapist and prevent potential rapists from committing the violence. Before we debate what a woman should put on, let us remember what we should not take off. Before we tell a woman to cover herself from head to toe, let us tell the men and boys that they should not drop their pants.

Lastly, do not be like our mentally ill friend. He went full retard. Never go full retard. – February 21, 2015.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.