Blame The Victim

There's how things should be and how things are.

If I left a bundle of $100 bills sitting on a table in my front yard and left for an hour, I don't expect that bundle to be there when I get back.  The person who took the bundle is a thief.  It was not their money and they had to trespass to reach it.

In should be world, my property is sacrosanct and people leave it alone even if it's easy to steal.

In real world... my money is gone.  If I dared report the theft the police would admonish me for leaving the money out where it could just grow legs.

Sadly, this scenario does apply to some rapes.

In should be world, a woman is safe regardless of how she dresses.

In real world that slinky red dress is an invitation to the rapist, where baggy sweat pants and a loose t-shirt aren't.

And that's blaming the victim.  I hate that.  The victim didn't do anything wrong.  The problem is that doesn't matter to the criminal.  How many discrete crimes are there in forcible rape?  Each and every one is wrong.  All the victim did was dress in a way that caught his eye and become the selected target.

She SHOULD be safe to transit the area.  But she isn't.  I wish she was and I want her to be.

Criminals are opportunists.  They take advantage of the situations that their victims allow to manifest around them.

Leaving the front door unlocked, for example, gives a burglar an opportunity to enter a house quickly and quietly.

Leaving the keys in a running, unattended car gives a thief an opportunity to just drive away.

Walking alone in the wrong neighborhood gives a rapist the opportunity to grab their victim.  Wearing the slinky outfit caught their attention, but didn't create the opportunity.

While the blame should be fully on the criminal, it is incumbent on us to limit their opportunities to prey upon us.

PS:

I would like to add that at no point after the crime would I attempt to deflect the criminal's responsibility for their actions.