Just call the rapist “brother” or use this whistle: The ridiculous ways powerful men globally sugges

Just call the rapist “brother” or use this whistle: The ridiculous ways powerful men globally suggest women fight rape

Written by

Ana Campoy

40 mins ago

In Mexico City, where 72% of women have suffered some kind of violence, head of government Miguel Ángel Mancera this week launched a new initiative to combat sexual assault by handing out whistles.


Mexicans promptly and mercilessly shot down the idea. It doesn’t help that the Spanish word for whistle, pito, is also slang for penis, unleashing a tsunami of social media mockery best encapsulated in the hashtag #elpitodemancera, or Mancera’s… whistle. Some commentary on that below:

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It’s a question that women around the world are asking about other policies that seek to defend or remove them from the threat of harassment, instead of stopping the harassment in the first place. Several countries, including Brazil and Japan, have implemented female-only transit to completely isolate would-be aggressors from women. When being in the presence of men is unavoidable, New York City’s police commissioner and officials elsewhere have advocated for adopting the “buddy system” because, in their logic, a woman alone (particularly if she’s drunk) is easy prey. Others promote the use of self-defense methods, for example, vomiting or urinating on an attacker, as one university in Colorado recommends.

And it doesn’t stop there. Per an Indian spiritual guru, calling rapists “brothers” and begging them to stop might prevent the whole incident. Or, officials could just ban spicy chowmein, which in the consideration of an elder council in India, produces hormonal imbalance, and therefore rape. The ultimate anti-harassment advice for women, however, comes courtesy of the mayor of the Turkish municipality of Muş: Just stay home.

More:
http://qz.com/694362/just-call-the-rapist-brother-or-use-this-whistle-the-ridiculous-ways-powerful-men-globally-suggest-women-fight-rape/