Yet another irresponsible message from AWARE

You just have to expect such from AWARE. Aren't they always telling young women and girls that it's OK to have fun, let your hair down, dress and behave anyway you want, never mind it means throwing caution to the wind?

Rape is a heinous crime. It is so barbaric and inhumane, some societies even put convicted rapists to death. Rape not only affects the victim physically. It also affects the victim emotionally and mentally - usually for a very long term, sometimes even lifelong.

So when AWARE equates a flirtatious behaviour like the come on signal to men, with the real victim of hardcore rape, that is nothing short of irresponsibility exhibited by AWARE.

Saying “it’s not your fault” to a sexual assault survivor can be life-saving – AWARE Exec Director

Date rape

Most rape is acquaintance rape, and more often than not it is date rape. To give you an idea – of the 34 rape calls that we received on our Helpline over the past two years, where information about the relationship between the perpetrator and the victim was made available to us, there was only 1 case in which the woman was raped by a stranger. In all the other cases, the rapists were people the victims knew.

Date rape is especially confusing for the victim as there is some level of consent to the situation and there is often an issue of evidence.

Even though the victim did not consent to the sexual penetration, she may have consented to meeting the accused at a late hour alone, to drinking and often to a certain degree of intimacy with the perpetrator, short of sexual intercourse. Although she is clear that she did not consent to sex, she feels partly responsible for the situation.

Isn't prevention better than cure? Isn't the good old grandmother's advice to young girls and young women that they should behave like ladies still the best anti-dote to date rapes?

Yes, even nuns and fully burka covered conservative Muslim girls get raped. But it can be seen the many of these are date rapes, no? You see a nun or a burka clad lady dancing and drinking in pubs?

Why doesn't AWARE simply tell the truth that if you behave sleazily, dress sleazily, mix around with sleaze, the chances of you ending up date raped are higher than if you put on your best behaviour and dress properly?

AWARE is acting highly irresponsibly by sending out a message to young women and girls that it is OK to have have fun, look as if you are a loose person, dress however little you like and when you get date raped, simply call the Hotline and AWARE will be able to help you get even with the b*st*rd who humped you because you decided you didn't like that hump last night.

Isn't that the crude message AWARE is sending out to young girls and women?

It is also an irony that AWARE has succeeded in convincing the govt to repeal Sect 157a - Section 157(d) to be repealed – Law Minister

Singapore’s Evidence Act is based on the Indian Evidence Act of 1872, which was based on the English common law during that period. Section 157(d) states that:

“The credit of a witness may be impeached in the following ways by the adverse party or, with the consent of the court, by the party who calls him:

(d) when a man is prosecuted for rape or an attempt to ravish, it may be shown that the prosecutrix was of generally immoral character.”

Two assumptions underlying Section 157(d) are that (1) a woman who is sexually experienced is less credible as a witness and (2) a woman who is sexually experienced is more likely to have consented to sexual activity.

With the above repealed, technically, a woman can accept the invitation of her date to his home, get cuddly, even get naked and even have sex with him on a regular basis.

Then one fine night when she gets more than what she could handle from her PMS, and decides to tell the world that she didn't want sex that night, her date can do nothing to say that they've had sex regularly the last two years as his defence.

Suddenly, the date becomes a rapist, and the woman, a date rape victim.

Now, that would:

1. Trivialize cases of REAL hardcore rape victims.

2. Endanger young women and girls because AWARE gives them the idea that "help is nearby"if you get date raped. So for god's sake, you can dress up (or rather dress down) and behave as sluttily as you wish.


As always, AWARE never fails to amaze me how its actions are more detrimental to young women and girls than any other organisation.