Viral photo response to shocking research which revealed 65.1% of Brazilians think women provocatively dressed ask to be attacked.
A provocative new study has revealed that the majority of the Brazilians believe that a woman who dresses skimpily deserves to be raped.
This outrageous finding in a land famous for its micro minis and voluptuous carnival dancers has lead to widespread protests from men and women.
Brazil’s Institute of Applied Economic Research this week released the results of research pertaining to community attitudes on sexual assault.
The study conducted by the government-run IPEA asked people across the country whether provocative clothing justified rape.
An overwhelming 65 percent of the 3,810 respondents agreed with the statement that “if dressed provocatively, women deserve to be attacked or raped.”
At the same time, more than 58 percent also agreed that “if women knew how to behave, there would be fewer rapes.”
These statistics are undoubtedly galling, considering that these questions appeared to be loaded.
What was most disconcerting, however, is that 66.5 percent of the respondents were women, proving the rampant and deadly nature of rape culture.
Normally, women who blame the victims do so out of a sense of misplaced belief that if they implement and follow the rules of rape prevention, they’ll be able to ensure protection.
But it does not work that way simply because at the end of the day rape is about power, violence and subjugation, not justifiable punishment.
“What leads to harassment or rape is not the clothes that the woman is wearing, but anyone who want to harass or rape,” opined Carmita Abdo, the sexuality studies program coordinator at the University of Sao Paolo.
According to Abdo the findings of the latest study was not at all surprising as conservative Brazilian society still blames the victim in cases of abuse.
Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff was quoted by The Washington Times as saying the results show that “Brazilian society still has a long way to go,” in combating violence against women.
Rousseff tweeted Friday: “It also shows that the government and society must work together to tackle violence against women inside and outside the home.”
The IPEA’s findings have resulted in widespread outrage among Brazilian women. A backlash was initiated by journalist Nana Queiroz, 28, protesting the study.
She posted a photograph to social media showing herself standing bare-breasted in a field with one arm across her chest and the other pressed against her forehead.
On her arms, she has written ‘Nao Mereço Ser Estrupada’, which in Portugese translates to “I don’t deserve to be raped.”
Speaking to BBC Trending, Queiroz said she was most surprised to find out that two-thirds of those questioned for the survey were women themselves.
“These women are the biggest victims of sexism. They are so oppressed that they don’t even feel that they have the right to have their own opinion,” she opined.
Meanwhile, her online protest on Facebook inviting women to take pictures of themselves topless saying: “I don’t deserve to be raped,” has gained tens of thousands of participants.
Queiroz said she’s received several threats of rape since starting the campaign, AFP reported.
Female and male Brazilian supporters of all ages have joined hands to upload deliberately provocative selfies with little or no clothing alongside hashtag captions such as #NoWomanDeservesToBeRaped, #IDontDeserveToBeRaped and #MyBodyBelongsToMe.
One woman is pictured holding a paper checklist which reads: “A man without a t-shirt is: hot, is going to play football, wants to be raped – it’s obvious.”
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