India’s Socialist Party’s Maharashtra (a state in western India) unit chief, Abu Azmi, said that women who have sex outside of marriage should be punished by death. This includes women who are victims of rape.

Mr Azmi told Mumbai-based news website, Mid-Day: “Any woman, whether married or unmarried, who goes along with a man, with or without her consent, should be hanged.” This basically suggests that rape is the victim’s fault.

This rape culture, victim-blaming bullshit needs to be stopped. Now. Rape is NEVER the victim’s fault. You cannot possibly sit there and try and convince me, and yourself, that someone can be blamed for being forced into having sex. No. That’s not how it works.

Unfortunately, Mr Azmi is not the only person that blames the victims. Online, it’s obvious that a very large portion of people believe that a person is to blame if he or she is raped. Some of the most common victim-blaming excuses are:

– “If she’s going to dress provocatively, then she should expect it.”
How DARE you judge anyone on what they wear! If they want to wear short shorts, and a crop top, that’s their choice. If they want to wear skinny jeans and an oversized jumper, that’s their choice. You know what’s NOT their choice? Whether or not they’re going to be raped.

– “Her clothes say she’s asking for it.”
What kind of psycho must you be to fully believe that clothes can speak? How about you go seek help. Like the previous point – you have absolutely no right to judge someone on what they wear. And for crying out loud, there is absolutely no clothing in the world that asks for rape. Even if said person was wearing a t-shirt that said “rape me” that is STILL. NOT. ASKING. FOR. IT. For someone to consent to sex, it needs to be verbal.

– “If it’s your boyfriend or husband, then it’s okay.”
That’s just a straight up no. Rape is NEVER okay, and it is NEVER the VICTIM’S fault. That is the same as saying that if your partner physically abuses you, and beats the shit out of you, then it’s your fault. It is never the victim’s fault.

– “Women need to protect themselves against rapists.”
Do we honestly live in a world, where we protect against crimes rather than try and stop crimes? How about instead of teaching your shitty little kids to not get raped, you teach them to NOT RAPE? Last year, The Guardian published data about the crime and punishment of rape. It was estimated that up to 95,000 people are victims of rape every year, in England alone, and that only 15,670 of these offences became recorded crimes by the police. Out of all this, only 1,070 people a year are convicted of rape. I just am so done. If society is going to keep teaching these twisted views on rape culture, victim blaming, and teaching “don’t get raped” instead of “don’t rape”, then this is hardly going to be helped.

The head of the Socialist Party, Mulayam Singh Yadav, stated that if he were to become prime minister, he would get rid of the recently introduced law that sentences rapists to death. His reason? “Boys will be boys.”

I’m just so done.

That is the biggest load of crap I’ve ever heard. You cannot possibly use that weak-ass excuse of “boys will be boys” as justification for a crime as severe and disgusting as rape! Yes, it’s true; boys WILL be boys, well done! But boys are not rapists. Boys do not naturally rape, it is not part of their DNA. Boys are not animals that cannot control their urges to have sex with a woman, and therefore need to resort to violence. Actually, saying that is an insult to animals. Animals can control their urges, and if human’s are such an advanced species, then WHY THE FUCK IS IT INSINUATED THAT SOME PEOPLE CANNOT CONTROL THEMSELVES?!

You have a choice to rape. If you rape, then that’s you making a choice, and it’s also you telling the entire world that you’re an absolutely disgusting piece-of-shit person.

No one has the choice to be raped. It is never the victim’s fault.

Links:
http://www.statisticbrain.com/rape-statistics/
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/crime-stats/an-overview-of-sexual-offending-in-england—wales/december-2012/index.html
http://www.mid-day.com/articles/shocking-women-having-sex-should-be-hanged-says-abu-azmi/15222050
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/10762531/Women-who-have-sex-before-marriage-should-be-hanged-says-senior-politician-in-Indias-Socialist-Party.html