What you wear rarely matters to the sexual assaulter

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Sexual assault is the subject matter of a heinous crime, seldom of attire appropriateness.

Unlike The Matrix’s flirtatious Woman in the Red Dress, women in real life are real, not simulated, and are not inviting lewd gazes or sexual assault.

 

“How were you dressed?” the victim is questioned. “Were you under the influence of alcohol? Why were you out with boys so late at night?”

The thing is, it shouldn’t matter what she was wearing or drinking. And oftentimes, it doesn’t. But, every single time a woman undergoes sexual assault and is criticised for provoking it, what we are doing is choosing to dismiss the incredibly pervasive nature of the crime.

In reality, the scenarios in which sexual assault can occur look a lot more like this:

 










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