From: don@chester (Don McCoy)
Newsgroups: talk.rape
Subject: Re: How to stop rape ..
Summary: Are you joking???
Date: 11 Oct 92 17:11:03 GMT
Organization: University of Delaware, College of Marine Studies

In article <BvyIAC.n4o@cs.dal.ca> andromed@cs.dal.ca (Mike Boschat) writes:
>
> Hi;
>
> It seems to me to stop rape we should stop women from wearing mini
>skirts or " seductive " clothing at the work place, also stop women
>from posing in magazines, calendars, and by fancy car ads ect in bikinins.,
>get rid of porn shops by closing them down permanetaly, stop porn
>magazines from publishing, them take those people, editors ect and either
>excute them in public..forget prison terms since they are fed better
>that the poor and homeless!! Next, get rid of the prostitution by very long 
>jail terms 100 years for each offence, and the young girls put into homes
>for a very long time. The pimps are no pronblem they are excuted on the spot.
> This is how to stop rape...and other crimes...
>
>	Thank you..
>
_________

Are you trying to evoke flames intentionally, or is this your real opinion?

I'll assume you're being serious.  You bring up a lot of ideas here, and
although your motivation (to stop rape) is admirable, I do not think your
ideas are feasible.

Here's why:

1) the idea that women wearing mini-skirts and seductive clothing causes
rape is equivalent to saying that "they were asking for it".  Now, I don't
have data right in front of me, but I recall that studies have shown that
most rapes don't happen in circumstances that support this idea.  Can 
anyone back me up here?  Furthermore, as I've seen here and in other places,
rape is not motivated by the uncontrollable sexual urge, but rather by
violence.  

2) with respect to pornography causing rape, I for one, do not think so.
Plenty of people disagree with me though.  This attitude seems to reflect
a general tendency to fix blame on circumstances, rather than on the person
committing the crime.  My belief is that people are responsible for their 
actions, regardless of any mitigating circumstances.  In general, U.S courts
follow this line of thinking (e.g. when someone is convicted of a crime,
but the judge imposes a light or suspended sentence when circumstances
warrent it).  I fail to see how pornography can *cause* someone to
commit rape.

3) "pimps are no problem as they are executed on the spot" -- uh, yeah
right... 

4) you suggest that prostitutes should be given jail terms and then put
in homes.  Question:  If they are given 100 year sentences why bother
to put them in a home?  Why not just take them out and shoot them?
Wake up.  Prostitution is here to stay, whether we like it or not, in
all countries.  


Ok.  At this point I'm wondering why I'm even responding to this post.
It is a typical knee-jerk, blanket solution to a complex, multi-faceted
set of problems.  Ignoring it is tempting, but I think (god knows why)
that I might be able to make at least *one* person stop and _think_ 
about what it is that they're saying.

Mike...  I hope you weren't just browsing through this group.  I've 
learned a few things in the couple o' weeks I've been reading.  Please
hang out for awhile and see what some others have to say.  One positive
thing I might say is that you do *have* an opinion.  It's good to have
them; it's good to share them.  But don't just express them and run --
take in the opinions of others and think them over for awhile.

..don...
Newsgroups: talk.rape