When it comes to sexual assault, victim blaming is still rife.
Rather than focusing on the perpetrator, women are often questioned on what they were wearing, whether they were drunk and whether they were walking home at night alone.
Fed up of the status quo, 22-year-old Bree Wiseman came up with the perfect analogy using her dog to explain why victim blaming is barking up the wrong tree.
“To the people that say women get raped due to the way they are dressed. This is my dog,” she wrote on Facebook. “His favourite food is steak. He is eye level with my plate. He won’t get any closer because I told him no. If a dog is better behaved than you are, you need to reevaluate your life.”
Speaking to HuffPost Women, Wiseman explained that she was prompted to write the post because of her own experience. She is tired of people blaming the victims rather than the person who committed the sexual assault.
She explained: “If a 4-year-old pit bull understands the word ‘no,’ even though he is looking at something he wants so bad he is literally drooling, then adults should understand ‘no,’ no matter how the other adult is dressed. Appearances shouldn’t make any difference in sexual assault cases. How is it that a simple-minded animal has the ability to understand better than a large part of the adult population?”
The post has gone viral, with over 145,000 people liking the post and almost 300,000 shares.
Mic drop.