Exhibition of Rape Survivors’ Clothes to Fight ‘Victim Shaming’

It’s the perpetrator and not her clothes that are to be blamed.

To set aside the absurd notion regarding sexual abuse and “victim-blaming”, the Centre Communautaire Maritime in Brussels has put up an exhibition featuring clothing items that were worn by victims.

(Photo Courtesy: Centre Communautaire Maritime)

Rape apologists, they're a dime a dozen. Choosing to blame the injured instead of calling out the one who caused the injury. It happens again and again, and trust me, there's a long way to go till we reach the end of this road of victim shaming.

“What did you think would happen when you put that dress on?”

But in this world full of of evil, there are those, who step forward and take up the responsibility of making the world see through the lens of clarity.

To set aside the absurd notion regarding sexual abuse and "victim-blaming", the Centre Communautaire Maritime in Brussels has put up an exhibition featuring clothing items that were worn by victims when they faced the most unfortunate encounter of their life. This was the most practical way they chose to make people understand that one’s choice of attire can never justify a perpetrator’s actions.

The exhibition began on 8 January.

“What you immediately notice when you walk around here is they are all very normal pieces that everyone would wear.’’

Lieshbeth Kennes, a training and counselling employee of CAW, as told to VRT1 Radio.

The clothes were provocative they say, but how did an innocent child's attire provoke the predator? In the urgency to defend an alleged rapist, what people often completely forget, is that it's not just the survivor's responsibility to reclaim their space or shout their story out loud, we are equally responsible in being a part of their voice.

Dismissing the survivor's version of events by showing outrage over their clothes doesn't make you better than the accused.

The exhibition features clothing items such as pyjamas, tracksuits and even clothes worn by children, hence proving how unfair it is to point fingers at the survivors. These clothes worn by the victims have been taken on loan from a victim support group called CAW East Brabant.

The exhibition will go on till 20 January 2019.