|a,w:|o 1t1Y/-t/-t 31 MAY 24, 2013 DAN MAGAZINE

FA iLY MATTERS
Iu-s +j _gI= ) c=,i _s +-wIy> _jI .+i
Still Not Asking for It (Rape)
By Yasaman Madanikia
Sexuality Researcher at Simon Fraser University
Sex Educator at GoTo Educational Technologies
Sex Columnist at Hush Magazine
Miss World Canada 2013 Delegate
Y
ou may have seen pictures of women holding signs that say, Still
not asking for it. Women in those pictures could be dressed or
totally naked. Some even write the messages on their bare skins. You
may have been curious about this campaign and its message. Here is
the story of This is not an invitation to rape me campaign.
A Rape Crisis Center in Scotland started this campaign. However, it
was soon spread out through the world. This campaign attempts to
raises awareness about violence against women and rape. It aims to
challenge and deconstruct woman-blaming attitudes that justify or
excuse sexual abuse. Various research studies have shown that one-
quarter of people partially or totally blame the victim for the sexual
abuse. They may blame the victim for wearing revealing clothes or
for the putting herself in a dangerous situation. However, if people
truly believe in the womens right to freedom and safety, it must be
given that a womans sexy dress or bare skin should not be taken as
an invitation for sexual abuse, neither should her decision to drink, go
to a party or walk in a the dark.
In a genius ad from this campaign titled Not Ever, the message of
this campaign was illustrated in a seconds television ad. In this ad a
young woman in her twenties is at a party, firting playfully with some
men. She is wearing a short sparkling blue skirt. The ad then cuts to
two men at the other side of the room. One of the men turns to the
other saying Check out the skirt! She is asking for it! Afterwards
the ad jumps to a scene with the woman shopping earlier that day.
She holds up two skirts in her hand and tells the customer service
assistant, Im going out tonight and I want to get raped. I need a
skirt that will encourage a guy to have sex with me against my will,
asking the customer service womans opinion for the skirt that will be
more suitable for the occasion. The customer assistant says the The
blue one. Dehnitely the blue one. At this point the woman turns and
faces the camera directly and says As if with a sarcastic look on
her face. The ad ends with a blue screen with the following message
and a voice-over that says, Nobody asks to be raped. Ever. This
sarcastic ad with its sense of dry humor points at the predominate
woman-blaming attitudes held by many people and reminds the
audience that women are never asking for it no matter what the
circumstances are.
The bottom line is that women have the right to live free of violence
regardless of what they wear or where they go. Rape or sexual abuse
is not caused by what women do wrong, rather it is caused by the
predators wrong misperceptions about the victim and predators
mistaken decisions. It is time to stop victim-blaming and assign
responsibility to those whose decisions lead to rape.
Lastly, my name is Yasaman Madanikia. I dress like a modern woman
and I do sexuality education, research and writing and I am still not
asking for it! Nobody asks to be raped. Ever.