By: Sapna Rehman
Clothing acts as a symbol of identity and social status as every culture has its own acceptable dress code. Deviation from that particular attire sense or the way it affects the standards and morals of the community is labeled as immoral, suggestive or provocative.
And therefore, decency and indecency, which are judged by others, are often considered to be in a direct relation with the morality of individual. The way one dresses up is mostly treated synonymous to showing the willingness to be admired and appreciated as well as objectified.
Physical attraction serves as one of the factors playing a significant role in the acts of sexual harassment. An argument often presented is that Even if one agrees to this argument, it never suggests that the actions of the perpetrator are justified or that he should not be blamed for his intolerable actions.
Like if you are wearing tight cloths, low cut dresses or short skirts, of course it makes you look hot, yes it’s going to appeal men and women the attire of women contributes in tempting a man similar to leaving a priced possession unguarded.
In this way, a woman is making herself a potential target for the perpetrators. being the simple fact of life.
Rapist are rapist, they do bad shit and they are at fault entirely even if you don’t even take any precautions against them.
But we should accept the reality of this world and should take safety measures in the best way we could.It is your dressing sense that can make you an easy target for the perpetrator.
For Instance, you are wearing lavish jewelry in slum area or using an expensive phone on the road side of unhampered place. Everybody understands that you are making yourself vulnerable to being robbed.
The criminal mind is to blame but everyone should know certain rules in order to avoid such misshapes and not to become an easy target. If a girl dressed up like a prostitute, of course she would appear as an easy target to a man with rapist mentality.
I believe rape is not only all about power but also about desire and motivation which is stimulated or fueled by temptation. For example, many people have the ability and power to do different tasks.
Like if a person knows how to cook but this alone may not be enough to make him cook so motivation in the form of guest or the availability of ingredients made him moved to cook. Also if a person wants to dance, being alone is not enough to let him dance but going to night club will motivate him to dance that will make him tempt to dance. In the same way, immoral dress code can cause temptation for harassment.
But at the same time dress code has little to do with harassment or rape as the children are getting raped, nuns are getting raped, boys are being raped even the women wearing bourka get raped.
It is nothing less than the sick mentality of rapists who don’t look who is in front of them.
Till the mindset of the men transformed and security and laws assured, the women need to be alert regarding their dress code, moving out alone at night time.
Yes, it is not fair with girls to have so many restrictions but this is the only right and safe option for the women at the moment.
Recent few heart wrenching rape cases of innocent people in Pakistan presented that this is not the attire that appeal the rapist but it is the sick mentality of the patriarchal society we are living in.
If the dress code has the sole reason of rape then what is the reason behind the rape case of six years old Zainab?
Why 89 years old lady (mentally unstable) was cruelly raped several times? It is the mental illness that leads a person to commit crime like rape or molestation.
Your actions actually presents your mind as your acts is a mirror of your mentality. Men have been framed powerful in our society which leads them toward violence in the form of rape too.
Rape happens everywhere around the globe it can be burkha wearing states to short dressing countries.
It would be wrong to accept that the attire of women does not influence the way other perceived. People make judgments on the bases of dressing and yes it is true that certain style of dressing would arouse sexual desires, but at the same time it is unwise to justify the rape case with unfriendly dress code of the women.
