*Update: The mayor of Albury has issued an apology for his comments. “I apologise without reservation. It was a poor choice of words and if I had my time back again I wouldn’t have said it,” he said this morning.
At around 6.20pm on Tuesday evening, a 17 year old girl was sexually assaulted at knifepoint by a group of three men in Albury, NSW.
The girl managed to escape from the men following the attack and immediately called the police for help. The police are investigating the incident and have released computer-generated images of the men based on the victim’s description, in the hope that members of the public will come forward with information about their identities and whereabouts.
Albury Mayor Kevin Mack has attracted widespread criticism for his response to the attack. In an interview with ABC news, Mack said he thinks women should avoid walking alone in order to avoid being sexually assaulted.
“I always have encouraged women not to walk alone, to have someone with them at all times, because that in itself is aninvitation for someone to take advantage of you,” he said.
‘We’ll endeavour to do what we can as a council to ensure our areas, our footways and the parks are well lit and give people that sense that they feel safe,’
“It’s a salient reminder to us all not to take what we have for granted, and to make sure we have appropriate safety in place.”
He described the perpetrator’s behaviour as “inordinate”.
The comments immediately attracted outrage for exhibiting victim blaming attitudes. The comments, many social media users said, imply that it is a woman’s responsibility to protect herself against sexual assault rather than a man’s responsibility to avoid becoming a perpetrator.
“The comments from the mayor reinforce rape myths that women are responsible for stopping rape. Women can’t stop rape, men need to decide to stop raping women,” spokesperson for activist group Collective Shout Melinda Liszewski said.
Importantly, Liszewski also pointed out that Mack’s response to the attack excluded any discussion of the perpetrators of the crime.
“He hasn’t addressed the perpetrators of the crimes, they have completely disappeared from the dialogue,” she said.
“It’s an injustice to blame the victim.”
Social media users are similarly outraged. One Twitter user, Kate Pern, joined by many others, have requested a 24-hour chaperone service following Mack’s remarks.
“I am a nurse and I walk to and from work alone, until you so kindly pointed out today, I was completely unaware that I was a walking ‘invitation for someone to take advantage’ of me,” she wrote.
“In light of this new information, I would like to request that you provide me with chaperone service from my house.”
“I guess my question to the Mayor of Albury is how am I supposed to get around? On a Segway?” another Twitter user asked.
“Stop the #victimblaming, Albury Mayor. The girl was raped because of men with disgusting attitudes of women not because she chose to walk alone,” wrote another.
Mack’s comments follow a series of similar incidents in which prominent public figures have elicited outrage by responding to sexual assaults with victim blaming attitudes.
In March of this year another 17 year old, Masa Vutokic, died following a stabbing attack in a Melbourne park. Instead of condemning the perpetrators, Detective Inspector Mick Hughes responded to the incident by advising women not to walk alone in parks.
“I suggest to people, particularly females, they shouldn’t be alone in parks,” he said.
Hughes’ comments received an immediate backlash in the mainstream and social media.
Just a month later, another NSW mayor also exhibited victim blaming attitudes in response to the sexual assault that occurred in Sydney’s Kings Cross in 2013. Waverley Mayor Sally Betts provided a positive character reference for the perpetrator, Luke Lazarus, and then suggested an education program to teach girls how to avoid “vulnerable situations”.
The quick succession of the three incidents has begun a widespread conversation about the dominant narrative around sexual assault and victim blaming.
Journalist and commentator Bernard Keane drew a connection between the two incidents on Twitter: “Hey @WaverleyMayor thought about running on a joint ticket with the mayor of Albury? He blames women for getting raped too.”
In each of these incidents, the violent attacks that occurred were abhorrent and inexcusable. So why, in every instance, was the focus on the behaviour of the vicitims and not the perpetrators?