Nice girls don't wear little black dresses

April is National Sexual Assault Awareness month, and in honor of this month, people are encouraged to wear black in support of victims of rape and sexual assault every Thursday. Isn't it ironic that wearing black on Thursday is symbolic of supporting the victims of rape, but wearing a little black dress on Friday could be held against you in court if you have been raped?\nWe live in a society where justifications are made for the violent act of rape and, ladies, what you are wearing is one of them. In "Convicted Rapists' Vocabulary of Motive: Excuses and Justifications," rapists and victim blamers say women are seductresses, women say "yes" when they mean "no," nice girls don't get raped, women eventually relax and enjoy it and other things to justify violating someone sexually. \nWhat I don't understand is how a woman asks to get raped. I have never heard of a woman saying "come rape me," but justifying rape by saying she seduced me because she was wearing a tank top and tight jeans basically means that every girl on IU's campus is asking to get raped. \nIf nice girls don't get raped, then who does? \nAccording to Emily Fairchild, a volunteer at Middle Way House, 85 percent of rapes are committed by people women know. Many rapes occur at the victim's home by someone with whom they have established trust, like a platonic male friend. These are nice girls. Nice girls who like to go out to the bars and have fun with their girl friends on the weekends. Nice girls who go to class everyday and call their parents to tell them they love them every other day. \nYes, they go to the bars, yes, they wear short skirts and high heels, yes, they like to dance. Should women not be able to wear certain items of clothing or have fun out of fear of being sexually violated? I don't think so. When a woman is wearing black pants, heels and a sparkled tank top she is not asking to be bent over, pinned down and have sex forced upon her so that her tears and spit stain her clothes, and then when she finally tries to get up she falls back down because the rips and tears in her vagina hurt her so badly. \nAs a fashionista who enjoys getting dressed up to go to the club, this is not what I am asking for when I go out to dance and have fun with my girls. So why do we justify any kind of rape? A few weeks ago when I heard about the lacrosse team at Duke being involved in a gang rape, I was not surprised. \nIt's not that I assume lacrosse players go around raping women, but according to Fairchild, one out of every four women will be raped or sexually assaulted and one out of every ten men will experience being raped or sexually assaulted. I was not shocked because rape is so common, especially when perpetrators are in a position where they think they can get away with it or justify it. What I find to be the most surprising part of the entire story is the victim, a black exotic dancer, gathered the strength and courage to report such a humiliating and violent crime. \nI commend her for doing so, despite the stigma associated with rape victims such as "they asked for it." See, the problem with victim blaming is that it scares women who have been raped from reporting the crime and allows for rapists' crimes to perpetuate. Fairchild went onto state that rape is one of the most under-reported crimes in the U.S.\nSo instead of blaming the victim, lets commend those who do find the courage to report being raped. Lets not excuse or justify sexually violating someone because they had to work hard to pay the bills or because of what they were wearing. Instead, wear black every Thursday in support of victimized women. Keep in mind though the little black dress in considered a fashion staple it can also be considered a tool of seduction warranting unwanted sexual violation. So, what are you wearing today?