No Means No and a Short Skirt Does Not Mean Yes!

This is my first ranty blog post for a while, and comes inspired from an article by Natasha Devon.

If you haven’t read her “Dress provocatively? Overweight? You're not 'asking for trouble' nor are you the root of the problem” article then you can do so here: 

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/dress-provocatively-overweight-youre-not-asking-for-trouble-nor-are-you-the-root-of-the-problem-8634750.html

I am not overly versed on all of Natashas work, but the bits I have seen have amazed me. She is an advocate for positive body image and self esteem, to say the least! You can read her Twitter updates here  - https://twitter.com/BodyGossipTash! She is well worth a follow.

I loved her article because it said what I have thought for a long time – the only person who is ever to blame for a crime is the person who carried out the crime. 

We are taught that we should hide our sat navs from view in our car, not walk down the street with our mobile phone in our hand and not to leave our front doors open. There doesn’t seem to be many people that are screaming out “don’t commit a crime”. Sure, for most of us it is built into us not to break the law, but should money really be being spent on teaching us to avoid crime over teaching people not to commit it?

I understand that we take some responsibility for our own actions and that in essence, walking down a street with our iPhone in easy grab could be seen as ‘silly’ – but actually, we SHOULD be allowed to if we want to.... and if the worse comes to worse and the iPhone is stolen, only the criminal is to blame and not the victim.

If a person of any gender wants to wear clothing that shows off a lot of flesh, they are not doing so as an invitation to drag them down a dark alley and rape them. For people who say they were asking for it or it wouldn’t have happened if they wore ‘something sensible’ that is fundamentally what you are saying. That by wearing a low cut top, or a short skirt you are also sending out an invitation that says you want to be pulled to the ground and your body violated... And, anyone who feels that there something right about this – I find you baffling!

I would love to know what other people thought of this article!

Debz x