Rape Victims are Victims

What do people have against rape victims?

A few weeks ago, a middle school girl in Depok was chased out of her school because she was raped. VIVAnews reported that the school announced in the weekly morning assembly that they were unwilling to accept a student who has smeared the school's reputation. Upon entering her class, the girl was chased away by a teacher.

I don't know what can smear a school's reputation further than mistreatment of their students.

I think it's accepted universally that rape victims are VICTIMS. Victims who need counseling, who need protection. They're not criminals. They shouldn't be treated like criminals.

There is an issue with the way people perceive rape in Indonesia. Rape victims are treated like they deserved to be raped, there is a social stigma that generalizes rape victims as sexual deviants. This belief in reinforced by government officials; Jakarta's government publicly implied that a girl who was raped in a public transport had it coming because she was wearing a short skirt. A couple months ago, our Religious Minister also stated that there should be a specific dress-code for women, because skirts above our knees are considered pornographic.

Well, fuck you too.

It's because people assume that scantily dressed women are sexual deviants, it's because people assume that scantily dresses women want sex. Honestly, the definition of scantily-clad-enough-to-get-raped in Indonesia is pretty amazing considering we're supposed to be a democracy. Apparently it's okay for girls to be raped because their hot pants and miniskirts indicate their willingness to commit sexual acts.

Gentlemen, they're clothes. They're not an indication of sexual availability. They're not equal to a fucking neon sign that says "Yes, I am willing to have sex anytime, anywhere, with anyone. This is equal to my signature on a piece of paper, witnessed by a lawyer."

There is no such thing as sending the wrong signal. They could be naked and nobody would have the right to rape them. They could be winking and motioning you to come closer. They could be blowing kisses. But in the end, as long as you don't have their consent, any form of sexual harassment is a crime.

Wait, are we saying that prostitutes and sluts and sexual deviants deserve to be raped? Nobody deserves to be raped. Do you think it's okay to rape a prostitute because she's in the sex industry? Is it okay to rape a stripper, since she makes money using her body anyway?

Nobody deserves to be raped. Rape is defined as the crime of forcing another person to have sexual intercourse against their will or without their consent. Which part of unwilling don't these people understand?

Vice versa, people assume that rape victims are sexual deviants, people assume that they were raped because they sent signals of sexual availability. People assume that these young girls, rape victims, were prostituting themselves or performing equally abnormal behaviors in the eyes of society.

Another rape victim in Aceh committed suicide after a local newspaper published her name. Her case was taken up by human rights watch organizations, who speculated that she committed suicide because rape victims were considered prostitutes in the region. She was still a minor. She suffered from a stupid social stigma that couldn't understand the fact that she was a victim.

Another student lost her opportunity to learn, another little girl lost her world.

The girl in Depok is still alive, she still has a chance to become a normal student once again. The Ministry of Education succeeded in negotiating with the school to allow her return. She still has a chance to go to school, or does she?

Yes, maybe if she moved to a remote part of the country. Who would want to go back to a school that publicly shamed you in front of your friends? How else could a middle school girl react to being banished by her teachers, to losing her friends? Isn't that the same to being rejected by the people you look up to, the people you depend on, when you need them the most?

Shouldn't they be sympathizing with her, instead of condemning her? Shouldn't her teachers be aiding her integration into her learning environment after a traumatic incident, instead of giving her labels that will degrade her in the eyes of society? Shouldn't the school be condemning the incident and slandering the perpetrator, shouldn't they hold an assembly on how to better protect yourself against criminals? Shouldn't they be ensuring that her education resumes unhindered so that she can secure a bright future?

Instead what do these teachers teach?

They teach students to discriminate against rape victims. They teach students that rape victims do not have a right to education.

Despite the many flaws in the actual execution of this law, there is a law that states the guaranteed right to education for all citizens of Indonesia, at least until they finish middle school. That's why the government are working to abolish education costs for public institutions, so that everyone will have a little bit more equality in education. So people can work hard to achieve their dreams based on meritocracy, not based on how much money they inherit.

So why was that little girl denied her rights as a citizen? Because she was raped?

How does being raped justify anything? It's never their fault. Are we so barbaric as a nation that we would ignore the plight of rape victims and instead condemn them to a vicious cycle of being discriminated against?

Despite the fact that she is allowed to resume her educations, news reports said that she has refused to go back to school because she has been publicly humiliated. And if she does go back to school, what will she face? Teachers who feel burdened having to taught her, fellow students who has been taught by teachers to discriminate against her. What kind of educational environment are we putting our country's children in? What mindset are they telling children today to have?

Why are children being taught by the media, by the community, by the government that rape victims should be blamed? What kind of sick mindset is that?

The question people ask shouldn't be why was she raped, the question should be how can we help her overcome the trauma of being raped? How can she put the incident aside as to not let it hinder her studies and opportunities in life? How can her friends and family support her? How can this incident make her stronger instead of weaker?

You can't change the past, but you can change the future. Unfortunately, in the hands of a cruel society, lies the future of a little girl.