A recent rape prevention ad campaign from Pennsylvania’s Liquor Control Board has been pulled because critics claim the ad puts the blame on the victim. The ad, which shows a woman’s legs on a bathroom floor with her underwear around her angles, reads, “She Didn’y Want to Do It, But She Couldn’t Say No.”
The intended message, of course, is don’t drink so much you can’t make decisions for yourself. Nothing worn with that message, of course. One should never gets o drunk that one can’t maintain control. But dovetail that messaging with rape and the scenario is a bit different.
It’s easy to see why critics interpreted this ad as victim blaming. After all, the ad could be interpreted as saying she got drunk so she deserved it.
In any event, the campaign has been pulled. But Executive Director of the Harrisburg Victim/Witness Assistance Program Jennifer Storm defended the ad saying, “Alcohol is the number one drug used to facilitate rape. You lose your capacity to make sound decisions. We need to empower people with every tool and piece of knowledge we have.”
Jezebel’s Erin Gloria Ryna wasn’t buying it and wrote, “Rape is not just a bad thing that happens to someone after drinking too much. It’s a deliberate act on the part of the rapist, a violation of another person committed solely because the rapist wanted to rape. The sooner we acknowledge this, the sooner we’ll be rid of stupid, finger wagging ads like these.”
Yes. Rape is an act of violence one person commits against another. It’s rare the blame can ever be placed on the victim. But some might argue it’s important to make people aware of the dangers of over indulging in alcohol and the deleterious effects it can have on one’s decision making capabilities.
