When i was in college a few years ago, I was apart of the democrat club, where we would come up with new potential legislations to serve as models for our university and the public university system in California.

Needless to say, one time, a girl and a guy working together brought up the idea of "Girls stepping it up" campaign, that focused on empowering girls, with providing free martial arts training, pepper sprays, blinding flares, and more to give girls the tools to defend themselves against potential rape and sexual assault. Their rational in this is that if one teaches girls to be stronger, tougher and not seem so vulnerable, this will deter males from attempting to rape them or commit sexual assault, as the usual component of rape cases is where the girl was physically overwhelmed by her attacker.

However, he was horribly criticized and rejected for this idea. Many other female and male members were enraged at him, and said "It should never be a girl's responsibility to worry about herself like that" or "What about teaching men not to rape?" This eventually lead to him being expelled from the club and blacklisted from ever running for associate student government.

So although this is an anecdote, do you think in general females enjoy being treated as, or thought of as potential victims when it comes to rape and sexual assault? Do you believe it gives them a status that they don't wish to lose?