Crosspost "(TW) God damn I'm tired of women being told how not to get raped." from /r/TwoXChromosomes:

As many of you know, a woman was recently raped on a public transit train here in Philadelphia. The horrifying story is here. She was harassed, groped, assaulted, and finally raped for more than 40 minutes -- that's more than two dozen train stops. There were other riders in the train car.

No one helped her.

Not a single 911 call was placed.

Multiple riders pointed their phones at this scene.

Instead of making even the slightest effort to help this woman, who was telling him to stop, trying to push him away -- they videoed her rape.

A lot of people are, rightly, horrified. Some people are trying to explain away this failure of humanity as "bystander effect." It's not bystander effect when they had the wherewithal to whip out their phones and video a woman's nightmare.

And many people -- many men -- are responding with comments like "this is why women should carry mace and take self-defense classes."

No one is saying "this is why people need to learn how to intervene in a crisis," or "this is why men need to speak out against rape culture," or "this is why SEPTA needs to step up security," or "this is why we need to smash the patriarchy."

It's not about what women do or don't do. Self-defense classes are great, but they do not prevent sexual assault. If self-defense classes prevented sexual assault, we wouldn't have 20,500 US service members, who are trained in hand-to-hand combat, experiencing sexual assault each year.

Girls are raised being taught how not to get raped, and yet one in every six American women is the victim of an attempted or completed rape.

It's not about what women do or don't do.

Stop telling us how not to get raped.

We know.

Men: speak out against rape culture. Call out your fellow men for their "locker room talk" and predatory behavior. If you're afraid to get involved in a physical altercation, call 911. Press the emergency call button. Do something.

TL;DR God damn I'm tired of being told how not to get raped.

If you have been the victim of sexual assault, in the US you can reach out to RAINN.org 24/7, by phone or online chat. Their services are free and confidential.

Posted by SnapCrackleMom | 19 October 2021 | Link