Indonesian Women Wear Miniskirts To Protest Rape

The SlutWalk has now become a worldwide phenomenon as women take a stand against those who believe that dressing provocatively is an invitation to rape.

Recently, Jakarta’s governor Fauzi Bowo incited the ire of Indonesian women when he said that “women must not wear revealing clothes to avoid being raped or victimized.” Apparently the message is not getting across.

So, on Sunday, Indonesian women put on their miniskirts and joined the sluts of the world to make the message more powerful and protest still-pervasive beliefs that scantily-clad women are implicitly asking to get raped.

The governor’s unpalatable comments are part and parcel of the country’s growing conservatism as fundamentalists work to push stricter Islamic laws and ban any “behaviour that could incite lust.”

This means that if women do not adhere to these laws by dressing (and acting) conservatively, it’s their fault for any violence they come up against. But how do you tell a woman who has been gang-raped in a minivan late at night that it’s her fault? Should she have been wearing a turtleneck? Should women have 8 o’clock curfews to prevent these situations?

It’s truly tragic when women have to prove that they don’t want to be raped. The bottom line is it shouldn’t matter how they behave, what they say or how they dress. Someone who is victimized, brutalized and violated should never be held responsible for the actions of their perpetrator.

Although it makes most of us angry that women should even have to rally for non-violence, at least they’re standing up to those who think women who wear miniskirts are whores and to the rapists who use clothing (or lack thereof) to justify their horrendous actions.

Contact the author here: tinybart@morningquickie.com