Everyday Victim Blaming

challenging institutional disbelief around domestic & sexual violence and abuse

Bedfordshire Police (@bedspolice) blame victims of rape for not making the #rightchoice

 

We can't quite work out if this poster is the quintessential example of misogyny we've seen this year, seriously stupid or both. Screen Shot 2015-12-19 at 10.22.26

There are two ways to read this poster:

  1. The man at the back is the rapist who has all the sad feelz before being held accountable for being a rapist.
  2. The man at the back has all the sad feelz because his property (wife/daughter/girlfriend) has been raped.

It's obvious the woman is upset not because she's been raped but because it is her fault for being raped. This is why they've used the tag #rightchoice. If only the victim had been a better, smarter, more careful .... then the perpetrator would not have been forced to rape her. Her failure to make the #rightchoice makes the perpetrator's choices invisible.

We honestly can't begin to imagine what the creative team behind this campaign were thinking or why it was approved. It needs to come down and Bedfordshire Police need to make a formal apology. There is no excuse for this type of campaign. Police 'safety' campaigns put women at risk and make it more difficult for women to report.

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