Blaming the victim?
Archbishop Cruz of the Phillipines sounds to me like he may be giving the impression he is blaming the victim for her rape. I know some guys who blame women for their temptations against chastity because of how they dress; tight clothes that reveal their form for instance. Some girls do flaunt their sexuality by the way they dress, no doubt about it. Some girls go for the sexualized fashion images they see, or the provocative celebrity sexual performances they watch as stars such as Britney Spears or Janet Jackson perform, and they stupidly think this is cool and a way to present themselves to men, unaware of the open invitation they are suggesting - not giving.
Nevertheless, “it takes two to tango” as they say, and the woman, naive as she may be, does not ask to be violated, no matter how she is dressed. Men must be responsible for their actions. Maria Goretti certainly was not provocative, she resisted her attacker to the death, but her attacker was the person responsible.
The Archbishop’s caution should indeed be heeded. Young women and girls must be careful as to the way they dress and act. That is why modest fashions and clothing is such a need in our highly sexualized culture. But guys have to learn to keep custody of the eyes and practice chastity as well.
Bishop says women shouldn’t flaunt sexuality
By Christian V. EsguerraInquirerLast updated 08:52pm (Mla time) 12/05/2006
WHAT lessons can Filipinos draw from the Subic rape drama that culminated in the conviction of a 21-year-old American Marine officer?
Women, most especially, should be taught that “womanhood is precious and noble so it is not right for them to be flaunting it around,” Archbishop Oscar Cruz of Lingayen-Dagupan said Tuesday.
“They should not make themselves appear cheap and practically inviting to be violated by men,” he said the day after a Makati judge sentenced Lance Corporal Daniel Smith to up to 40 years in prison after finding him guilty “beyond reasonable doubt” of raping an intoxicated Filipino woman identified in the media only as “Nicole.”
Cruz’s opinion echoed similar sentiments aired shortly after Nicole, a 23-year-old management accounting graduate, cried foul after Smith raped her in an alleged conspiracy with three other US Marines on November 1 last year. -Full report here.
