Jan
6
We Don’t Prevent Bank Robberies by Shaming Bank Employees
Tags: rape culture, sexual assault victims, victim blaming
Filed Under Uncategorized | By Melissa Heald
Marcella at abyss2hope employed a metaphor I think could be very useful to explain the problem with blaming victims of sexual violence for their assaults:
We don’t prevent bank robberies by shaming bank employees. In many bank robberies there is a possibility that the attempt could be foiled, but we acknowledge that there are risks whenever money is being handled.
I realize this isn’t a perfect metaphor; bank robberies and sexual assault aren’t perfectly comparable for many reasons, but I think this metaphor has potential to help start conversations with people who just don’t “get it.” Who knows, maybe it could even trigger a few “ah ha!” moments.
Any metaphors or parables you’ve heard that have proved helpful in your work?
Comments
3 Responses to “We Don’t Prevent Bank Robberies by Shaming Bank Employees”
lissa22222 also commented on this over at the Feministing Community site: http://community.feministing.com/2010/01/rape-analogies.html#more
I love it, and I’m so using this metaphor in the next SART meeting. So maybe the law enforcement officers can grasp the concept of Prevention a little better!
PS- Marcella is AWESOME! She’s helped me out in this matter before!
Good luck! I’d be interested to know how it goes over at the meeting…