Rape Campaign #ThisDoesn'tMeanYes Wants To End Victim Blaming And Dispel Myths Around Consent

Rape Campaign #ThisDoesntMeanYes Wants To End Victim Blaming
|
Open Image Modal
PEROU

When a woman wears a short skirt or flirts with a man, it does not mean she's saying "yes" to sex.

New campaign #ThisDoesn'tMeanYes aims to highlight the fact that there are no blurred lines when it comes to consent.

Rape is rape, and the victim is never responsible.

"There’s a myth that surrounds women, a myth that embroils them: women who dress or behave suggestively, women who are playful or who act provocatively, women who flirt or openly discuss sex – they’re ‘asking for it’," the campaign's website reads.

"It’s an insidious fable, and it needs to stop. Every woman has the right to freedom of expression."

Government figures indicate 43% of women in London between the ages of 18 and 34 have experienced sexual harassment in a public space.

According to Rape Crisis, approximately 85,000 women are raped on average in England and Wales every year and 400,000 women are sexually assaulted each year.

The fear of victim blaming and not being believed can prevent some women from reporting rape or sexual harassment.

The #ThisDoesn'tMeanYes aims to tackle the issue.

The campaign was created by four feminists: Nathalie Gordon, Lydia Pang, Abigail Bergstrom and Karlie McCulloch, in partnership with Rape Crisis South London.

The four women took to the streets of London with photographer, PEROU, and photographed 200 women to show that "no matter what a woman is wearing, she is never ‘asking for it’ and the mentality ‘she wants it’ is fundamentally wrong".

Check out some of the empowering images below:

This Does Not Mean Yes
(01 of09)
Open Image Modal
(credit:PEROU)
(02 of09)
Open Image Modal
(credit:PEROU)
(03 of09)
Open Image Modal
(credit:PEROU)
(04 of09)
Open Image Modal
(credit:PEROU)
(05 of09)
Open Image Modal
(credit:PEROU)
(06 of09)
Open Image Modal
(credit:PEROU)
(07 of09)
Open Image Modal
(credit:PEROU)
(08 of09)
Open Image Modal
(credit:PEROU)
(09 of09)
Open Image Modal
(credit:PEROU)
8 Dumb Comments About Rape Made By Powerful Men
Ken Clarke (01 of09)
Open Image Modal
Tory big beast Ken Clarke faced calls for his resignation following comments he made about rape sentencing policy. The then Justice Secretary was speaking to BBC 5 Live in 2011 when he appeared to suggest date rape is not always “rape”. Addressing presenter Victoria Derbyshire, he said: “Assuming that you and I are taking about rape in the ordinary conversational sense, some man has forcefully…”In this full transcript provided by the BBC, Derbyshire interjected with: “Rape is rape,” to which Clarke replied: “No it’s not.” (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Rick Santorum (02 of09)
Open Image Modal
In 2012 GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum explained his opposition to abortion even in cases of rape in an interview with CNN’s Piers Morgan. He said that women who face such circumstances should “make the best of a bad situation”. When asked what he would say if his own daughter approached him, begging for an abortion after being raped, he explained he would counsel her to “accept this horribly created” baby because it was still a gift from God, even if it was given in a “broken” way. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
George Galloway (03 of09)
Open Image Modal
George Galloway ignited fierce debate in 2012 over comments he made relating to the sex crime allegations against WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange. On his podcast Good Night with George Galloway, posted on YouTube, he said: “It might be really sordid and bad sexual etiquette, but whatever else it is, it is not rape or you bankrupt the term rape of all meaning.” Swedish prosecutors wish to question Assange on suspicion of offences of unlawful coercion, sexual molestation and rape. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Roger Helmer (04 of09)
Open Image Modal
In 2011 UKIP candidate Roger Helmer blogged his opinion that there are distinctions between “date” and “stranger” rape. “Rape is always wrong, but not always equally culpable,” he wrote. With reference to “stranger” rape, he said: “… the victim surely shares a part of the responsibility, if only for establishing reasonable expectations in her boyfriend’s mind.” (credit:Matt Cardy via Getty Images)
Alan Pardew(05 of09)
Open Image Modal
In 2009 then BBC football pundit Alan Pardew, now coach of Newcastle United, was forced to issue an apology after he compared a tackle by Chelsea’s Michael Essien to a rape on Match of the Day. Essien had collided with City’s striker Ched Evans when Pardew said: “He’s a strong boy. He knocks him off." As Alan Hansen interjected with “he mauls him”, Pardew added: "he absolutely rapes him." (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Graeme Swan (06 of09)
Open Image Modal
In 2013 England spinner Graeme Swann said sorry after comparing the third Ashes Test loss to Australia as being “arse raped” Swann made the comments on Facebook during an exchange with his brother hours after England’s loss. He took to Twitter to apologise: “Sorry to anyone who was offended by my comments in the papers today. Crass and thoughtless of me in the extreme.” (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Demetri Marchessini(07 of09)
Open Image Modal
In May UKIP Donor Demetri Marchessini argued there was no such as thing as marital rape, claiming: “If you make love on Friday and make love on Sunday, you can’t say Saturday is rape.” When asked whether UKIP should be taking cash from a donor with such repellent views, leader Nigel Farage replied: “Possibly not.”
Judge Derek Johnson (08 of09)
Open Image Modal
California judge Derek Johnson was publicly admonished in 2012 for suggesting a rape victim “did not put up a fight” and that if someone truly doesn’t want to have sex, their body “will not permit that to happen.” Judge Johnson made his comments during a case where a man threatened to mutilate the face and genitals of his former girlfriend with a heated screwdriver. In documents published on the Californian Commisson on Judicial Performance, he is recorded as saying: “I'm not a gynecologist, but I can tell you something - if someone doesn't want to have sexual intercourse, the body shuts down. The body will not permit that to happen unless a lot of damage is inflicted, and we heard nothing about that in this case.”
Todd Aikin (09 of09)
Open Image Modal
Failed Republican Senate candidate Todd Akin suggested in 2012 that victims of “legitimate rape” don’t need the option of abortion because they “rarely” become pregnant. He later apologised. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)