'This Doesn't Mean Yes': Anti-rape activists campaign against blaming victims

Empowering: women pose for the campaign, backed by charity Rape Crisis South London, which encourages others to upload pictures of themselves with the hashtag #thisdoesn’tmeanyes

Rachael Sigee15 April 2015

London activists have teamed up with a top fashion photographer for an anti-rape campaign aimed at challenging the myth that victims are to blame because of what they wear.

PEROU — who has worked with stars including Daniel Radcliffe and Helen Mirren — pictured 200 women at an open-call session in Shoreditch in support of the idea that however a woman is dressed she is never “asking for it”.

The founders of the This Doesn’t Mean Yes campaign — Nathalie Gordon, Lydia Pang, Abigail Bergstrom and Karlie McCulloch — all work in creative industries, and decided to pool their skills and use their contacts to encourage discussion about consent and empower women to dress as they choose.

The founders of the campaign all work in creative industries

Ms Gordon said: “In our work we are all constantly surrounded by campaigns and images for women that have the wrong messages, that are scaring women. We really want women to feel good about themselves rather than feel blamed.”

The campaign website, which goes live this week, will host a gallery of unretouched photographs of the women who took part. Other women will be encouraged to upload their own photos and share on social media with the hashtag #thisdoesntmeanyes.

The initiative is backed by charity Rape Crisis South London

Dr Fiona Vera Gray of charity Rape Crisis South London, which backs the initiative, said: “It is vital that we change out-of-date attitudes that blame women for sexual violence. Such attitudes restrict women’s freedom, silence survivors and excuse the actions of perpetrators.

“We want to live in a world where perpetrators of rape and sexual assault are held entirely responsible for their actions, and survivors are believed and supported. A world where everybody seeks active, embodied and enthusiastic consent as the minimum, and respects the human rights of women to bodily autonomy and freedom.”

The campaign website is set to go live this week

Ms Pang said: “This is about awareness and re-framing the situation. It’s to highlight the charity and the work that they do. It’s also a response to the sort of messages that have been out there, especially in the last year, which have been about victimising women, blaming women and exposing this subject in the wrong way.”

The women behind the campaign say however a woman is dressed she is never “asking for it”

This week Sussex Police apologised after producing adverts advising women to stay together on nights out to prevent sexual assault. Activists urged police to aim campaigns at potential attackers rather than victims.

thisdoesntmeanyes.com