My letter to the editor......

"I am writing in response to the letter to the editor "Two wrongs do not make a right", Aug 8th. In respect to the editor’s suggestion to end the abortion debate, I am not writing in response to his views on abortion. I am writing in response to his astronomically shocking views on rape. To suggest that a woman has the choice to not be raped by choosing to “not dress provocatively” and “not hang around men of ill repute” is disgustingly incorrect. This puts the responsibility for stopping rape in the victim’s hands instead of the perpetrator. As if because of what the woman was wearing the man “couldn’t help himself”. Even in places in the world where it is law for women to keep most of their skin covered, rape still occurs. This is because the act of rape has little to do with the sex act itself and everything to do with a need to dominate and control women. Rape occurs to women despite age, social class, religious affiliation and even clothing choice. But regardless of what a woman is wearing or who she is hanging out with she does not share any of the blame if she is raped. She is the victim! Even the most sexually provocative of all women who hangs out with the most questionable of all people has the right to refuse sex. But it is a well known fact that rape does not just occur to sexually provocative women hanging out in shady areas. It happens everywhere. It happens to our sisters, mothers, grandmothers, and wives. Until the day when violence against women is unheard of, women need to educate themselves on how to stay safe and defend themselves. "
Take that!