See, the problem really is that the thread exists. It's well to talk about an issue, so as to inform our understanding thereof, but... this? Really? It's a foregone conclusion: no, it is not the fault of the victim. I mean, I can hardly express my dismay at it. Surely there's no point discussing it any further. If you get it, you get it, and if you don't... well. Frankly, I recommend closure and a stiff warning in red for something. It's passed the point of absurdity.
The point of absurdity was passed a while ago when I was challenged to a formal debate by Randwolf. The
question was to have been:
"Can risk management techniques be applied to rape mitigation?"
Now he was so confident that he boasted that he would only have to make one post and he would win.
At first I refused, because really, it was a ridiculous proposal. But he pushed so I agreed. And I felt so guilty because I knew that I had the ability to humiliate him quite badly in that debate and I even discussed it with a colleague as to whether it would be fair or appropriate to not point out to him beforehand the terrible mistake he made in wording the question as he did. I had tried to
gently guide him at first towards not asking the question that way, but he was adamant. So out of guilt and really, by that point it would have been painful to me to get to him that way, I started to drop hints
as to why the wording he used was really, well, bad. This was mixed in with his confusion about me and what he perceived as our, ermm.. well.. apparently having fought about this before back in 2008 (I had actually fought this issue with a poster named angrybellsprout at the time, not Randwolf).
When the hints were not taken seriously by him, and when others failed to make him realise his folly,
I had to be a bit more direct. The point of absurdity was that question. He thankfully saved me from feeling like a big meany and cancelled the debate soon thereafter.
This is not the only thread on this forum about this issue. I have been a member here since 2001 and since then, I have literally fought tooth and nail against people who believe that women are somehow at fault or share the blame if they are raped. This won't be the last time either.