Bikinis Caused the Rape of 9-Year-Old Girl

by Alex DiBranco · 2010-02-02 15:59:00 -0500
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The guidebook entry for Goa, India, should read: Beware of a state tourism ministry that blames the rape of nine-year-old girls on too many bikini-clad women on the beaches.

Goa's beaches have been a popular destination for tourists looking to have a little sandy fun in the sun. But the recent rape of a nine-year-old Russian girl, after a series of sexual assaults against vacationers, has sparked international outrage. And the government's decision to go the victim- and swimwear-blaming route isn't winning it any extra points.

Pamela Mascarhenas, Goa's deputy director of tourism, is quoted by New Delhi's Daily Mail as saying, "You can't blame the locals"; rather, the assaults are the fault of foreign women who don't show adequate "modesty," which "is bound to titillate the senses." Other officials join in by excusing the attacks as caused by "culture shock."

If Mascarhenas means "those who perpetrate rape and sexual assault" when she says you "can't blame the locals," she is dead wrong -- you can and should blame those individuals. (And isn't it kind of offensive to defend rapists by suggesting that all locals are unable to control themselves at the sight of bikini-clad women?) Making excuses and victim-blaming just perpetuates an unsafe atmosphere for women and girls.

And another thing: this victim was nine years old. Seriously, she was just such an immodest and sexy nine-year-old she brought this on herself? The girl hadn't even reached puberty. But those factors are not what rape and child molestation are about. Oh, and by the way, this child rape wasn't even close to a crime of passion. It was a calculated move -- the alleged rapist apparently had a friend distract the girl's mother while he assaulted her child.

But, by all means, blame bikinis and nine-year-old girls instead.

Photo credit: jemsweb

Alex DiBranco is a Change.org Editor who has worked for the Nation, Political Research Associates, and the Center for American Progress. She is now based in New York City.
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