Agence Provocateurs

The Lucban Municipal Police Station, by posting a message on social media asking girls not to wear short shorts, fanned the flames of an already simmering frustration over a predominantly misogynistic sentiment regarding rape and subsequent victim-blaming and shaming. Their Chief, perhaps unwittingly, stoked the controversy by trying to justify their deed, which singed their credibility even more.

In Metro Manila, Ben Tulfo’s allegedly minuscule but proud member stood up and spew a conflagration by saying that the manner by which women dress gives men an opportunity to commit rape, In the process, he belittled the opinion (on the Lucban Police controversy) of Frankie Pangilinan, outspoken daughter of Senator Kiko Pangilinan and Megastar Sharon Cuneta, by calling her hija, a pejorative term in this instance, thereby sparking an online tumult on social media.

In the safety of her lair, Senator Pia Cayetano, a self-proclaimed women’s advocate, was quiet. Not even a gasp came as a statement from her office. Meanwhile, the rest of the country was in the firestorm. In the melee, Claro Ganac, a part-time professor at De la Salle University got fired for insinuating that Senator Risa Hontiveros, the feisty and staunch feminist, should be raped by Bilibid inmates.

The nub of the controversy is the mistaken notion that people get raped because of the clothes they wear. This is what the Lucban Police openly emphasized. This is what Ben Tulfo accentuates. This insolence is the weapon of choice of misogynists who, in their impertinence, invariably shame the victims of rape.

Hontiveros asserts: "There is no dress code for rape. Or for sexual harassment. Instead of teaching women how to dress, we should teach men not to rape".

Note that women do not have exclusive sway as rape victims. Men also get raped, the latest in the news is a newbie OFW in the Middle East. In the current scheme of things, as propounded by Lucban Police, Ben Tulfo, and their ilk, one wonders what he must have worn. The apogee here is the extremely revolting fact that even infants get raped.

It should be emphasized that our Revised Penal Code does not recognize the clothing of the victim as an element of rape. In an exhibit aptly called “Don’t Tell Me How to Dress” organized by CNN Philippines, clothes worn by 11 Filipina survivors of sexual harassment or abuse were featured. None of the 11 clothes that we displayed could be described as provocative.

Suddenly, there is a spate of bestiality occurring with alarming frequency, including a man who had sex with two cows. In an online discussion, people were asking Ben Tulfo and the Lucban Police: “What were the cows wearing?”

We seriously need to change our perception of rape and help educate people, raise awareness of the dangers of misogyny and the reality of men as rape victims. We should, as individuals and members of groups, not only fight for justice but proactively promote sensitivity to the plight of victims of sexual harassment or abuse.

No lip service allowed.