AFTER THE ANTI-TERROR bill, many stars are now in agreement about the warnings of TV host Ben Tulfo for women not to wear seductive outfits so they won’t be raped.
It’s Frankie Pangilinan (daughter of Ate Shawie and Sen. Kiko Pangilinan) who first squawked in Twitter when a policeman told a girl in Facebook not to wear sexy dresses “para hindi kayo nababastos.”
Frankie wrote: “Stop teaching girls how to dress!! Teach people not to rape. Breaking news: my clothing is NOT my consent.”
Ben Tulfo then said: “THE WANNABE SMART ALECK (You’re too young to know the world). Hija @kakiep83, a rapist or a juvenile sex offender’s desire to commit a crime will always be there. All they need is an opportunity, when to commit the crime. Sexy ladies, careful with the way you dress up!
"You are inviting the beast. Hija, perverts and rapists think differently. We can’t teach them and change their desires and criminals. The only thing you can do is dress right. Let’s not evoke their desire. This is what you can do. Before we change them, let’s change our self and thinking first.”
Frankie answered: “Rape culture is real and a product of this precise line of thinking, where the behavior is normalized, particularly by men. The way anyone dresses should not be deemed as ‘opportunity’ to sexually assault them. Ever. Calling me hija will not belittle my point.”
Jennylyn Mercado also gave her opinion: “This is Victim Blaming. Nakaugalian na ng ibang taong sisihin ang isang rape victim. Kasalanan daw nila dahil sa galaw o suot nila. Pasensya na po, but this thinking is backwards. Rape exists because of rapists.”
Jen wrote this on her FB fanpage and adds that no reason can ever justify rape. “Paano ninyo mairarason ang mga biktima na mga bata at matanda na hindi naman nakasuot ng sinasabing “sexy na pananamit”?
"Walang pamantayan ng pananamit ang rape at sexual harrasment. No. You don’t blame the victim for choosing to be “malandi” in your eyes. For choosing to wear revealing outfits. For choosing to put herself in a dangerous position. For being at the wrong place and time (madilim na lugar at gabi).”
And she adds: “There is no reason whatsoever that can justify a person getting sexually assaulted and no excuse for the assailant to commit the act.
"Blame the person who chose and chooses to rape her. Kahit anong itsura or pananamit ng biktima, ang manyak ay manyak. Don’t ever justify the act. No reason can justify an assailant sexually assaulting someone. Wala. Wag ninyo sila bigyan ng excuse.”
Actresses Glaiza de Castro and Lauren Young also joined the fray. Glaiza twitted: “Sinasabi ng iba na kaya napapahamak ang ibang kababaihan ay dahil sa kasuotan nila, pero kahit ano pang isuot o itsura, hindi basehan yun na puwede pwede mo silang hawakan o pagsamantalahan kasi hindi sila sa iyo.”
And this is what Lauren, who experienced being sexually harrassed in a bar in Boracay, wrote:
“It’s not about what you’re wearing – it’s the fact that he was disgusting and wanted to take advantage of me. No, I didn’t give him any signals to do that to me, I was not intoxicated - and even if I was – it doesn’t give him the right to do that. #HijaAko.”
Wonder what Janine Gutierrez, the most outspoken among our young actresses today can say about this issue.
