I got a question concerning rape : Is clothing one factor that influences a rapists decision to rape?
It's an honest question, and please don't get me wrong. I know that the victim is not to blame and that a rapist is a despicable excuse for a human being, with severe mental and social deficits. And I also know that in a perfect world a woman should be allowed to wear a miniskirt the size of a belt if she wanted to, but sadly this world isn't perfect. So could there be a significant number of cases where a rapist would have not raped if the clothing was more conservative? Where the clothing was the straw that breaks the camels back? I personally think that a rapist wouldn't care about how his or her victim looks, but fortunately I have no idea how a rapists brain works. Though maybe someone here has a good study at hand, or is a psychologist.
Anyway, lets assume that clothing is one of the many aspects that factor into the decision for rape, wouldn't it be better to not wear provocative clothes? It's not about what's right or wrong, but what is necessary to protect oneself. If I have the right of way at a crossroad and an idiot comes blazing along, I'd rather not take the chances of an accident and wait a few more seconds, even though I would have been the one to go first. Better save than sorry.
Obviously a bump in my car is nothing compared to the life long psychological scaring that comes from a rape, but still.
I know that this would not stop raping, but if it would just cut the number of rapes by 5% or so, maybe it could be something to think about. And I also know that this whole thing is somewhat abstract, among other things because of what Caitshidhe said, that "dressing like a whore" is not defined in any way.