Yahoo Lifestyle'I Don't Deserve To Be Raped' Protest Goes Viral In Brazil
The online campaign has spread after survey finds over 65 per cent of Brazilians think women dressed provocatively deserve to be attacked
Outraged women have taken to Twitter to protest a new survey that has found the majority of Brazilians think women who dress provocatively are ASKING to be raped.
In a movement that has quickly gone viral, men and women across Brazil have tweeted pictures of themselves in various states of undress with signs reading ‘I do not deserved to be raped’ in Portuguese.
One online protestor was photographed holding up a sign that read -
A topless man:
( ) is feeling hot
( ) is going to play football
( ) wants to be raped, of course!
The hashtag #EuNaoMerecoSerEstuprada (I do not deserve to be raped) came about after journalist Nina Quieroz asked women to protest the findings of the survey.
Carried out by their Institute for Applied Economic Research, the poll found that 65.1 per cent of Brazilians agreed with the statement that if a woman was dressed a certain way she deserved to be attacked.
Worryingly, 66.5 per cent of the people surveyed were women.
Thousands of Brazilians have taken to social media to protest the shocking survey results, which have far-reaching implications for the safety of women in one of the world’s largest countries.
[What is conscious uncoupling?]
As a country famous for bikinis on Copacabana Beach and outrageous costumes at the Rio Carnival, their conservative views may come as a shock to the rest of the world but sexual abuse of women is a serious concern in Brazil.
Between 2009 and 2012, there was a 157 per cent rise in rape cases reported, which may be down to the reclassification of what constitutes rape.
Before the amendment widened the legal definition of rape, only ‘tested vaginal penetration’ was classed as rape while all other crimes were prosecuted as just ‘indecent assault’.
Despite being one of the few countries in the world to have a democratically elected female head of state in the form of President Dilma Rousseff, it seems Brazil still has a way to go in terms of female equality and safety.
With 600,000 international fans expected to descend for the World Cup in June and 16 sexual assaults happening every day in Rio de Janeiro, the eyes of the world are on Brazil but for all the wrong reasons.
