Twitter user @Steenfox was horrified to learn that a 69-year-old grandmother was raped by her own grandson, 13. She struggled with the antiquated myth that says it is what women wear that is the real culprit in them getting sexually assaulted.
@Steenfox, whose real name Christina Fox, used this example while was engaging in a debate with a Twitter follower the other night about what her grandmother could have been wearing that could have possibly enticed her grandson to violate her in the most violent and debased way. She wanted to debunk the myth that prevails even to this day that it is the woman’s fault when she gets raped, that it is her suggestive, titillating attire that contributes to sexual assault — when nothing could be further from the truth.
“I was trying to make him understand that it absolutely does not make a difference, and that the responsibility does not lie on women,” she told The Root.
When Fox posed on her timeline “What I wore when I was sexually assaulted,” it blasted open the floodgates of emotional responses as hundreds of women responded within a few hours.
@steenfox I was wearing a Grumpy Carebear Tshirt, with jean shorts…it was a male relative…(okay to RT)
@steenfox Assaulted twice. At age 15: jean capris, loose red baby tee, flip flops. At age 18: jeans, university t-shirt, sneakers. Can RT.
@steenfox I was wearing a hooded sweatshirt, baggy jeans and a cap advertising the Beatles. You can RT
@steenfox I was wearing a brown Garanimals-type shirt w/green frogs on it, a brown fringe jacket, Wranglers and B. Brown loafers. 6. OKRT
@steenfox The first time? I was 8. I had on a sweater and jeans. The 2nd, work clothes: dress pants and a button up blouse
Based upon these responses, and the hundreds of others who were not quoted in this or The Root’s story, there is no way that people could hold onto the preposterous belief that these women — and millions of other females — could have “asked for it” because of what they had on. As you will discern for yourself, these women were sexually assaulted, and subsequently suffered emotional damage for years and decades afterward, regardless of what they chose to wear when the attacks occurred.
