I think that it is exceptionally important for men to respect women and understand that rape is wrong, but I'm also trying to make sure that my daughters have the skills to keep themselves safe. if that means that they have to punch an asshole in the throat, too f----ing bad. Please understand that I'm not blaiming the victim, but we live in a cruel world and it is important that kids understand that and have been given the ability to take steps to protect themselves.
Rape is always wrong and there is no justification for it. I hope you will have patience for my comparison, but think of it this way- I do not blame people for being mugged, but if I hear of someone who attempted to commit a mugging getting jacked it brings a smile to my face.
Those signs completely miss the point. Let me try my best to make it clear:
Imagine I want to go from my house to a friend's across town. Now, suppose that there is a shorter path which crosses an area of higher incidence of crime (more chance of getting mugged). It is my responsibility to not take that path, even if I am not at fault for getting mugged.
It is a woman's responsibility to avoid, to the best of her abilities, running certain risks. That does not make rape OK. It makes taking unnecessary risks stupid.
Off to the second sign... I have no idea about what real story she depicts. It may be common in the US, I don't know. But let's assume the rapist doesn't think what he did was rape. Does a terrorist know what he is doing is terrorism? Does a muslim that marries a pre-pubescent girl knows he is a rapist? Do jews know they are mutilating a baby during circumcision? Why are some cultures OK and others are not? Well, enough calling out the hypocrisy because I don't know (though I can make a pretty good guess) what these people actually believe. Should people go out and get drunk in an environment where people expect to get sex? Did this woman, once assaulted, go to the police? I hope she didn't expect a criminal to just get a conscience, repent and apologize. I'll make a wild guess and say she did not. But if she did, why is the rapist not in jail? Was there no case to make? If he is, how can there be such a thing as rape culture? If she did not, does she expect mob justice to be better than constitutional justice?
Raping is wrong, getting oneself in dangerous situations is stupid, and not going to the police once things happen is naïve. There will always be criminals, and the world will not kneel to an ideology once they fallaciously accuse all men of rape just because some man are rapists.
Not for a second am I suggesting that people not take precautions. I am careful. But even so, about once every two years, I forget to lock my door. I usually check. But I am not perfect. I am only human. I am in my 60's and I sometimes talk to young women and advise them to be careful. The world can be dangerous and you have to deal with reality. I do not judge women who choose not to report to the police. Spending four hours at the hospital, a couple hours giving a statement to detectives - there are women who choose not to report. It is better if they report, but I don't judge those who do not.
I think they're both bang on point. What they're saying is that when a woman is raped, it's not her fault - it doesn't matter if she was drunk, it doesn't matter what she was wearing, it doesn't matter if she walked down a dark alley in some dangerous part of town: it's not her fault. The second sign is also saying that the victim's rapist isn't aware that he raped her because society has taught him that "women like that" (revealing clothes, flirting, drunk) are "asking for it" - her point is that we need to make changes so that this is not mistaken for consent.
I feel sick at my stomach when I hear that women have to be careful. Not that I don't take precautions - I avoid walking late at night, I ask who it is before opening my door, etc. You have to be careful, you have to deal with the way the world is, not the way it should be. But I feel angry when I realize that most (at least I think most) boys are not taught about respect, about consent, that pornography does not portray women in a realistic way. We have to raise both girls and boys to be respectful, decent and knowledgeable. There should be comprehensive sex education for all children. They should be given facts about how to treat people.