Quote Originally Posted by Alpha View Post
Why it is problematic to give a list of things women can do to avoid being raped: because as much as people like this YouTuber assert, it shifts some of the blame to the victim.
Blame has nothing to do with it. A crime is always the fault of the criminal, that doesn't mean the victim can't help his/her chances.

It is not illegal for me to keep my door unlocked; it is always illegal for a burglar to enter my home. Regardless of whether or how I keep my home secure, the only time my property is stolen is if someone enters it without my permission and takes things without my permission.
This is true, however, if you know for a fact that you are living in an area in which break ins are commonplace, it's still irresponsible to leave your doors unlocked. It's still the burglars fault that your home was broken in to, but that doesn't change the fact that there are steps you as an individual can take to protect your own property. It's a lot easier for you to lock your doors at night than to go out and try to catch every would be burglar in the area. You have control over one half of the equation, and by manipulating it in your favor, can to an extent improve the probable outcome.

But not only that, in the case of rape what is at stake is far more fundamental than taking worldly possessions. Further, telling people that they have to dress a certain way (or learn a martial art or ... or) for their own good is requiring a victim to change their perfectly acceptable, legal and free choices when you could spend your energy telling rapists not to rape.
Key difference being, spending that energy telling would be victims how to reduce the chances of being victimized might actually prevent a rape here and there. The same energy spent talking to rapists is a complete waste of effort.

"Your clothes are a statement about you and your intentions. Does anybody even contest this?" Yes, actually. Clothes don't give consent. Consent is the only issue at stake.
Consent of the victim is never the only thing at stake, much as it might sound nice to say so. It takes two to tango, regardless of the consent of the second party. If the first (would be rapist) isn't interested, your consent is irrelevant, nothing is going to happen. If the would be victim isn't doing something a would be rapist finds attractive, he's not going to victimize them. There are of course reasonable limits to what a person should consider doing to deter something like that, and at no point is it ever the victim's fault, but that doesn't change the fact that there are actions a would be victim can take to improve their chances. They're not obligated to do so of course, but that's no reason to go out of your way to avoid precautions just because you can. Sure, you shouldn't HAVE to lock your doors at night, but why would you go out of your way to leave them unlocked just to make a statement? What is gained by NOT locking your door? It takes me so little time and effort to lock my door, it doesn't intrude at all upon my way of life, so why shouldn't I lock it? It'd be different if somebody were telling me a break in was my fault if I didn't sit in front of my front door with a shotgun in hand all night every night, but nobody has said anything of the sort. it's not a matter of blame, or obligation for potential victims to take precautions, but if it isn't going to make a tremendous impact in your life, why go out of your way to increase your risk? Sure, you have the right to dress however you want, flirt with strangers all you want, and any other thing you might want to do. I have the right to leave my door unlocked. What do I gain from leaving my door unlocked? Literally nothing. What reason have I to exercise that right? Literally none.

Also, his hard hat analogy is terrible. There are no accidental rapes. People wear hard hats to avoid harm in the case of accidents. If construction sites without accidents existed in reality, then you'd only need a hard hat to avoid harm in cases where people dropped things on purpose---so you'd rarely if ever need a hard hat unless you worked with a psychopath... who wouldn't have a job. I gather, however, that construction sites and rape are opposites. Accidents happen on construction sites, but an accidental rape is a misnomer. Intentional harm on construction sites is almost unheard of, whereas the phenomenon of rape is by definition deliberate harm.
The analogy is perfectly valid, that one party has intent in the case of rape is absolutely irrelevant. The intent of another is something over which you have absolutely no control. Just like the accidents of others on a job site. regardless of who controls the other side of the equation, you control yours. Why would you NOT want to ensure that your odds are as good as you can make them without making unreasonable sacrifices? Of course it isn't your fault if a brick falls on your head at a construction site, but I should hope you at least feel rather stupid about it if it did so whilst you were making a point of not wearing a helmet on the basis that you 'shouldn't have to'. It's one thing if you legitimately have something to gain from leaving your doors unlocked, or not wearing a helmet, but to do so solely because you can? That's just dumb.