I wasn’t going to broach the subject here, because Lord knows I’ve exhausted the topic enough on twitter, however the more tweets I come across of people blatantly slut-shaming and victim-blaming the more I wanted to make a quick post about the nasty vindictive attitudes these people have in regards to rape, rapists and victims.

Now don’t get me wrong, the overwhelming general public reaction, once the story broke, to the Roast Busters has generally been that of outrage. However there continues to be an alarming amount of people (we’re looking at you RadioLive’s Willie Jackson and John Tamihere) choosing to slut-shame and victim-blame the girls, with others even defending the Roast Busters’ actions. It’s bad enough that the Police handled the situation rather poorly, having made no convictions despite three informal complaints and even a formal complaint made two years ago by a, then, 13-year-old.

It’s bad enough that these girls were raped (because that’s what it was) and then shamed on a social media site. It’s bad enough that these boys thought that what they were doing was alright and even had other people think the same, painting their abhorrent behavior as that of ‘boys being boys who need to grow up’ or that. But to then flip it around and blame the girls for the abuse inflicted upon them? To then make statements implying that these girls should have known what they were in for and that what occurred to them was their own fault for being where they were and acting a certain way as to encourage the boys. Ignoring the fact that girls as as young as 13 were exploited, violated and humiliated. Deplorable.

Trigger Warning: The following Victim Blaming/Slut Shaming/Rape Apologia will contain stupid to the 10th degree and will make you question your faith in human decency.
I came across people who asserted that the girls shouldn’t have been going out and drinking at 13 anyways, that they were garden tools who cried rape after the fact and that the boys shouldn’t be blamed for their actions.

Get drunk? Expect rape. Because, why are you even out of the house?

This douche #VictimBlaming #RapeCulture #RoastBusters. You know who should stay tf home? Rapists. #stayhome https://t.co/BGNrxpyuOs—
Mata (@Matz_Enig) November 03, 2013

The girls ‘claimed rape’ / ‘played the victim card’ afterwards once they were named and shamed on facebook. Because, garden tools.

Is rape hilarious?

Roast Busters’ actions weren’t illegal because the girls followed them, the girls ‘put themselves in that situation’. It’s not rape, it was consensual sex between a Roast Buster and an intoxicated and often underage minor. So, they’re ‘innocent until proven guilty’. These people should have a read of the Laws regarding rape, and consent to sex, in New Zealand. I’ve picked out the pertinent sections for clarification.

128A Allowing sexual activity does not amount to consent in some circumstances

• “(1) A person does not consent to sexual activity just because he or she does not protest or offer physical resistance to the activity.

• “(4) A person does not consent to sexual activity if the activity occurs while he or she is so affected by alcohol or some other drug that he or she cannot consent or refuse to consent to the activity.

134 Sexual conduct with young person under 16

• “(1) Every one who has sexual connection with a young person is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years.

  In this section,—

  • “(a) young person means a person under the age of 16 years

The ignorance doesn’t just perpetuate rape culture, it informs the way these crimes are investigated and more importantly how the victims are treated and viewed both by those around them and by authority figures (looking at you investigating officer who advised a 13-year-old that she shouldn’t have gone out in clothes that basically ‘asked for it’). The thoughts and views of a select few I’ve come across on twitter and facebook indicates why so many rapes go unreported.

What does victim blaming promote other than the idea that a person is at fault for something someone else does to them? Despite these people the overall sentiments from the public make me slightly optimistic for the future. I’m looking at you, companies who’ve pulled their ads from Willie and JT’s RadioLive show. Because no matter the circumstances, rape is rape and it’s never okay. Girls shouldn’t be taught ways in which to avoid getting raped, instead the focus should be put on boys to not rape.

- Mata