Aren’t we blaming the victim when we say that women’s revealing dresses are the cause of crimes against them?
Please accept my humble obeisances.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada
Hare Krsna, prabhu.
I must say I don’t agree with what you wrote.
We have plenty of examples of women who were raped and were not dressing anything indecent. We also have plenty of examples of kids being raped or even very old women, who were definitely not dressed in such a way to “provoke” man.
That is the same kind of argument that makes muslim women to cover themselves from head to toe and also the same kind of argument that makes them sometimes be forced to be at home. Although it is an ok argument from the perspective of mental exercise of thinking, it is not completely according to the truth, as I said, since even kids are raped, and also it does not address the real problem – that is men behaving like animals. Women are NOT responsible for men’s lack of control or lack of intelligence, and they should not shape their behavior or life as if they were the culprit. That would be like legitimating what men are doing, even though it can be covered under a speech that “ok, women are not to be blamed but…” but actually it is blaming women when it said it is because of the way they dress they are inviting these kind of things.
Please, don’t take it as an offense. I have a deep respect for you and I appreciate your articles a lot. But I must give my opinion on this matter.
Hare Krishna,
As you have rightly pointed, the larger issue is the excessive stimulation and depiction of women as objects of sexual exploitation in every sphere of life that completely changes the vision of (most) men towards (all) women.
It is very obvious that when women are irresponsible in their behavior and dressing then that stimulates men(due to their untrained upbringing most women do not recognize this fact). The result of which has been that a properly dressed woman at a isolated place may be at risk due to an agitated mind of a lusty criminally minded person.
Therefore, we need to bring back the vedic culture of dressing and behaving respectfully and identifying this issue at a cultural and social level. Both Men and Women should protest against and refrain from the sexploitation of Women by the Entertainment Media (Especially Indian movies), Daily Newsspapers/Magazines, WWW-Internet, Advertising media, Pubs, etc.
This change is of course is a tall order in Kali yuga but at the grassroots level, we can change ourselves and be an example for a broader change. As prabhuji said, at least be a catalyst of such a change or at least do not contribute to the degraded culture that is prevading the entire fabric of the society.
We can do this as a service to God, to ourselves and to the Society with the hope to bring back the dignity of Woman as personified nicely by Kunti Devi and other Women leaders in the History of Vedic India that men bow down to even after hundreds / thousands of years later.
Prji Simply Amazing Example of Arsonist And House it sets the Clarity.Important Is to solve problem.Thank U Very Much Prji.