Jill Meagher's Disappearance Poses Some Interesting Questions to Discuss

[Eriny]

She was responsible for putting herself in danger yes, but not for being attacked.

If I take risks on the road, I'm responsible for putting myself in danger but if some idiot rear-ends me by his own fault, he's still responsible for that. There is a difference.

I don't like people bending my words to suit their argument

Still, nobody has addressed this: statistically speaking, since most rapes occur within the home and not on the streets, why is someone at fault for making themselves 'more vulnerable' for being out at night, when it would be ridiculous to say that they they have made themselves 'more vulnerable' for hanging out alone with a male friend or family member? (or are they still responsible for that too?)

[thushan]

I'll have a stab at this one Eriny.

Hanging out with a male friend or family member - this happens very very often compared to being out alone at night on the street. You take your measure of trust in the male friend/family member and you decide to make yourself vulnerable to them (say by being alone with them and whatnot). You may not consciously make the decision btw.

Since the former situation is much much more common than the latter, you would naturally have many more rapes within the home/by people that you know.

So the fact that rapes are more common within the home and the like does not necessarily imply that hanging out with a male friend/family member is more risky.

Mind you, making yourself vulnerable to a guy you don't know well in the home - for instance a guy you just met asks you to come over to his house...is considered not a smart idea in general.

[brenden]

Thushan, are you saying more rapes occur in the home because there is a greater opportunity? As in, if there were equal opportunity in the streets there would be equal rape prevalence/

[thushan]

Greater incidences where people are in a potential rape environment in the home than in the street.

That's just my suggestion. I may be wrong.

[brenden]

Hm. I can't find anything empirical to do with rape in the home, but I do ask Thushan - if you believe someone walking five minutes from home has a degree of responsibility not to be there, shouldn't you too believe that women have a responsibility not to trust family friends despite them being known? Especially when taking into account that 2/3 rapes are committed by someone known to the victim? Why does how often the activity occurs differentiate the level of responsibility supposedly held by the victim? It's arguably common for women to walk the streets and not get raped and murdered when they do so what's the differentiating factor pertaining to responsibility? (Not meaning to be confrontational, just posing questions)

[thushan]

Oh - OK activity incidence doesn't determine responsibility; I was merely giving an alternate explanation as to why rapes in the home etc are more common.

Women do have a responsibility to be vigilant around their family friends - this vigilance will die down once they figure out the family friend is benign. However, out on the street at night-time, is it legitimate to say that there would be a high number of 'dodgy' people around?

Perhaps my opinion is biased, because I take the statement "streets are not safe at night" axiomatically.

[brenden]

They have a responsibility to be vigilant around their family friends? They have a duty not to get raped? That seems to lend itself to victim-blaming. And on the discovery that the friend is benign, what about those rapes that occur by a long-trusted family member? Fathers, even?
On there being a high number of dodgy people - probably in King's Cross and train stations etc. But on any given day I'd bet big money that I wouldn't see a dodgy person if I walked 2.5 minutes away from my house and then back.
But it is fair to say that the streets aren't as safe at night, only a fool would say otherwise.

[thushan]

Duty to not get raped? In a sense. We all have to be responsible for our own safety.

But whilst this premise is very close to victim-blaming, it isn't. As I said, we do need to take responsibility for our own safety yes, but that gives the rapist ZERO licence to rape you.

[nisha]

Is this just me or has the aftermath of this awful tragedy been prolonged through the media?

In short:
-Yes she shouldn't have walked home alone late at night, but that does not give others (no stereotyping here) the right to exploit the situation.

[thushan]

In short:
-Yes she shouldn't have walked home alone late at night, but that does not give others (no stereotyping here) the right to exploit the situation.

Pretty much.

But the problem was that some people in the public took it one step further and said "she was asking for it" or sth