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Stumbled upon a post on IG last week, a screenshot of a viral news article about a South African man who is left traumatized after getting kidnapped and raped for three days straight by three women. And as dismaying as the news reads, there are still many nasty, churlish people who horse around chuckling at it. It makes me sick to my stomach already. Caption is deliberately omitted as it got my flesh crawling from seeing how despicable humans can be.
Simply click on the embedded post to see it and judge for yourself.
If you have a little more time to spare, might as well look into the comments. It’s cancerous down there--halfwits guffawing and making vile accusations about the poor guy. "If he got a boner, then he took pleasure in it," wrote one of them (not verbatim ac literatim, but you get the point) followed by a series of laughing emojis.
They left me baffled, and grossed out, and triggered almost simultaneously. It’s hard to believe one could casually, substantially downplay a sexual assault, for according to the weird logic functioning in their head, the victim looked like he enjoyed it. It’s because they don’t see rape as a common crime, they don’t see it as anything beyond sex. Slow claps!
Hardly surprising that, in every discussion about such cases, I encountered at least one ignoranus that shows senseless effort of always making victims feel, in any way, that they’re in the wrong. That if a living, breathing person with brain touches you inappropriately without your consent, or even drugs you with sleeping pills or aphrodisiacs, it was nobody’s but your own fault.
Everybody cared about and acknowledged basic human rights, until it was your body and you were in the midst of sexual violence case. They will
eager to jump on the victim instead of the assailants.
Back in 2013, a judge from Palembang High Court was under fire for making a problematic statement that both parties in rape might be reciprocally enjoy their intercourse (when asked whether death penalty) during a fit and proper test to become the Supreme Court judge. No, you’re not alone wondering how someone with such effed up mindset could be up to lead the highest court in the hierarchy of legal jurisdiction.
His statement, which according to him was to "ease the tension," blew up and sparked flak from public. Netizens signed online petition demanding him to be pulled out of his candidacy. In the end, he got zero votes from the lawmakers. Those cruel words came from someone with high-regarded educational as well as professional backgrounds who-joking or not-should've known better not to say them. Learn the clear-as-day difference, between rape is done without mutual consent, even sometimes with force instead. If you deceitfully or forcefully make someone 'sleep’ with you, that's a rape. How do we enjoy something we don't even want? If you justify an assault, a violence, a crime, because it involves sexual intercourse which you figure can always and only be enjoyable, you are a gross piece of sht. Know better and don't pass that ignorance on to others. Please. From that ignorance is born a justification, then comes along victim-blaming. Those Godawful comments on that IG post kinda proved my point. Victim-blaming is a thing and it happens regardless of the genders. Many men have been victim-blamed like many women do. I've seen how woke people can be when rape victims are women (inb4 someone calls me misogynist out of nowhere), I wish these same people's stance won't change when it comes to male victims. Men can be the target of sexual assault, too. Stop with the double-standard against male victims, and also the generalization that men can only be rapists.
You don’t have to be a rape victim to know how bad the damage it has. It’s unfair that when people were brave enough to report an assault or attack, they got even more crap from public instead of protection and justice they deserve. It is no wonder, a big number of rape victims choose to shut up and live with trauma and misery, or worse, take their lives away. Seeking justice in today's society can equal self-humiliation. Quit blaming victims for the wrongful act and damage that befall them. Nobody will ever ask for it. Dem debauchers gotta be the one being held accountable for their inability to control their own urges. Period.
Note:
Ignoranus is legit a word (in other words, I didn’t coin that), a blend of "ignorant" and "anus"--an ignorant asshole. I know, right? You can’t be both stupid and rude... pick a damn struggle.
