Rape victims who wear revealing clothes are to partly to blame, teacher tells pupils

An Australian teacher is being investigated after appearing to tell her pupils a rape victim’s choice of clothing is partly responsible for assault.

Students claim the teacher at Swansea High School in New South Wales told a class: “All men have to fight their urges every day not to sexually assault or abuse [women]”.

Dozens of pupils staged a demonstration at the school on Monday morning – accusing the teacher of “victim-blaming” and calling for the school to sack her.

They brandished a hand-made banner which said: “Not all men have the urge to rape. Women have the right to wear what they want.”

Pupils allege they were warned they could be suspended from school for sharing a clip on Facebook of the teacher arguing a woman’s choice of clothing has an effect on whether a rapist attacks them.

The teacher can be heard telling the students in a history lesson that their generation “doesn’t understand” in the clip.

“It doesn’t matter what she’s wearing, there was a lack of consent regardless ... she said no,” one of the pupils tells the teacher in the video.

But the teacher hits back: “Yeah, it does, no it does, it does make a difference and that’s why your generation doesn’t understand.”

Pupils said they were learning about how dress style has changed since the 1950s, when the incident happened.

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“Our teacher then suddenly brought up a story about a girl who was recently raped in Newcastle and when she contacted the club she was at they blamed her for what she was wearing,” one of the students told news.com.au.

“Right after this, my teacher proceeded to say how she needed to be held accountable for what she was wearing that night.

“She got incredibly angry, said my generation knows nothing, that I needed to learn, and that rape victims cannot 100 per cent victim themselves.”

The New South Wales Department of Education has said it is looking into the remarks – telling the outlet that the teacher will be absent on Monday and students have been given the choice of having counselling.

Shelby Quast, of Equality Now, a non-government organisation which aims to promote the rights of women and girls, said: “Teachers should not be reinforcing damaging gender stereotypes or promoting a culture of victim-blaming. The only person responsible for rape is the rapist and if schools aren’t teaching this, it is a serious problem that needs to be rectified immediately.

“Good quality sex education has an essential role to play to tackling the culture that allows sexual violence and coercion to thrive. Schools also have a responsibility to ensure that children feel safe and supported to speak out if they are a victim of sexual abuse.

"Many victims of rape and other forms of sexual abuse are under 18, so it is vital that from an early age, students are taught age appropriate sex education which incorporates healthy relationships, sexual health, the meaning of consent, and rights over their own bodies."

A study found one in seven young Australians think a man can force a woman to have sex if she initiated it but then changed her mind.

The National Community Attitudes towards Violence against Women Survey Youth Report, published back in May, found many young people have troubling views about sexual consent and abusive relationships.

It found one in three men believe women who say they were raped actually had consensual sex and later regretted it. One in five young men were found to believe that domestic violence is a normal reaction to stress.

In the UK, a majority of men think a woman is more likely to be sexually harassed or assaulted if she wears revealing clothes, according to an exclusive survey conducted for The Independent. It found 55 per cent of men believed that “the more revealing the clothes a woman wears, the more likely it is that she will be harassed or assaulted”.

The research by polling company D-CYFOR found men are markedly more likely to hold this view than women – with 41 per cent of female respondents subscribing to the view that revealing clothing invites unwanted sexual advances.

Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, which runs a free 24-hour helpline for people who have been sexually assaulted, said the findings illustrated how deeply entrenched victim-blaming is in society.

Noeline Blackwell, head of the centre, said: “There is an assumption – not borne out by any evidence – that the way a woman dresses is likely to lead to rape or sexual assault.

“We know that people are raped wearing a variety of clothing. The idea that a woman who goes out scantily clad will be pounced on is the most common myth across generations. They could be in their jeans, school uniform, or pyjamas.”

The school and the teacher has been contacted for comment.