Common sense safety precautions to protect women
By Scott Tibbs, February 14, 2019
Obviously, Kamala Harris is wrong in her attacks on Neomi Rao for warning women of the dangers of getting blackout drunk, especially the increased danger of rape. Encouraging women to be aware of their surroundings and avoid making themselves vulnerable to sexual predators is done out of concern for women's safety, not out of hatred for women. This is especially true when a woman is issuing the warning.
With that said, it is easy for the "do not get blackout drunk" warning made in good faith and with good intentions to morph into "she is partly responsible" when a woman is attacked. Our society still does harbor many misconceptions and outright myths about rape, and we should not be naïve in dismissing the prevalence of victim blaming. We should not dismiss out of hand concerns about the cultural messages that could be enforced by educating women about safety precautions.
But neither should we avoid educating young women about the dangers around them. Yes, in a perfect world we would only "teach men not to rape," but we do not live in a perfect world. We live in a fallen world ruled by sin, and there are evil people in that world. Obviously, women should be encouraged to avoid putting themselves in danger, and we should be absolutely clear that if she is attacked the only person to blame is the rapist - even if she took no precautions to protect herself.
Sexual assault is the only area where we condemn common-sense measures to protect oneself from crime. Locking your car, creating strong passwords, and watching your belongings in a public place are not condemned as victim-blaming. What we need to do is avoid getting overly emotional and debate this subject rationally. When we damn common-sense precautions and warnings we are not protecting women. We are compromising women's safety in order to virtue signal.
Finally, let's be very clear here. Harris is 100% totally dishonest here. She does not give a rip about victim blaming. This is a disingenuous line of attack on a political enemy. Therefore, Kamala Harris herself should be rejected. People who make arguments in bad faith do not deserve to be taken seriously.
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