[www.inewsguyana.com] – Women Rights Group, Red Thread has come out in condemnation of ‘A’ Division Commander, Clifton Hicken, who yesterday sought to suggest that the way women dress could encourage men to rape them.
In a statement issued today, Red Thread noted that Hicken’s comments demonstrate the urgent need for the implementation of the Sexual Offences Act 2010.
They called on Hicken to withdraw his remarks, and for the Commissioner of Police to urgently organize the ongoing training of all ranks to ensure that the enforcers of the law are not hampered by views such as those expressed by the Commander.
“For Mr Hicken to suggest that how women dress may be a trigger for rape indicates a serious failure in the training which has purportedly been done with the police. The inclination to blame the victim is a weak and lazy response to a serious crime, and it is unacceptable in the responses of the police – more so a senior policeman – tasked with investigating these offences,” the Rights Group said.
According to the statement, Guyana needs a police force that understands the underpinning of all forms of gender based violence and one which also understands that rape is not a crime of passion or temptation, but of humiliation and hate.
“The police must be trained to really appreciate their role as protectors of the vulnerable. They cannot act on this responsibility if they are limited by the belief that the victim of a crime such as rape must somehow have contributed to that victimization.”
The Women’s Group is of the view that the protection of women and the vulnerable in the society should not be relegated to the bottom of the list of issues needing urgent action.
Hicken Defends his Statement
Meanwhile, the Police Force has sought to defend what the Commander said through a statement issued today by stating that he was taken out of context.
According to the Police Force, the Divisional Commander had no intention to, in any way, justify sexual assaults.
“While the males in our society ought not to interpret a female’s mode of dress to be sending a particular type of signal, the fact remains that it is happening to some degree,” the Police Force noted.
According to the police statement, “The Divisional Commander has a lot of experience which provides information arising out of interviews of suspects in sexual assault matters, as well as intelligence coming from discussions among elements of criminal groups regarding sexual assaults they would have committed. This occurs when such groups have been infiltrated.”
“The Guyana Police Force supports the Divisional Commander in his crime prevention efforts, inclusive of sharing pertinent information, and wishes to reiterate that the Commander had no intention of defining moral conduct and that the statement was aimed totally towards crime prevention.”
Hicken at a news conference on Monday, November 17 cautioned women not to dress in a manner that encourages this illegal act that has claimed the lives of a few victims.
“While we try to prevent somebody from committing the offence we must ensure that we do not create an atmosphere for it to happen,” he said; adding that “and that is why we advocate for young females within a certain age group who are vulnerable, between 13 – 18, to always embrace an attire that is accepted morally.”
He said women and girls must ensure they do not dress in any manner that “plays into the agenda” of a rapist.
You did so many scenario, that honestly I am saturated.
When will you expound on the chapter of the ‘almost nudely ‘ dressed woman.
I am only suggesting you do a ‘man’ as the potential aggressor first.
Later on you can go to the LGBT community and its variables.
Red Thread always make me see red!
They spare no moment for political mileage.
Instead of the US giving these people US400,000.00 dollars, they should have planted katahar trees. At least we will get katahar.
With this kind of money, I will be protesting eight days a week!
Why do men rape women (Rape psychology)
Each human behavior doesn’t map to a single psychological need but instead the same behaviour could appear because of many different psychological needs. In other words 10 rapers could rape for 10 different reasons. Below are some of the most common psychological drives behind rape:
Dealing with rejection: What does rejection has to do with rape? one of the reasons a man could rape a woman is to make up for the rejection he felt earlier by the opposite sex. By overpowering someone from the opposite sex the man can feel relieved of the shame of rejection. You might be wondering why a man who was rejected by a woman rapes another one but when you know that the subconscious mind believes that people who share certain similarities are the same person then everything will become clear. You might fall in love with a woman just because she looks like a woman you loved before and the same goes for rape. A man can rape a woman just because she resembles a woman who rejected him earlier.
Feeling superior to women: All men want to feel superior to women but some of them fall prey to low self confidence issues which forces them to believe that they are inferior to women. In such a case the shame becomes unbearable and those men start to find another way to feel superior. Sane men will usually find a healthy path to gain superiority such as building self confidence or succeeding in life while other men who are too scared to do this might start taking a short cut,which is raping women, to feel superior.
Expression of power: The media teaches people indirectly that men are superior to women because of their ability to dominate them sexually. Because of these advertised beliefs some men start to seek that kind of domination in order to feel more manly. In other words some men rape women in order to assert their manhood especially if they had doubts about their own masculinity (see also How psychological identities affect behaviour).
Revenge: Some men rape women in order to take revenge from that specific woman, from a woman who resembles her or from women in general. Lets suppose that a man had a very tough boss who happened to be a woman. In such a case that man will feel ashamed because his manhood is threatened by a woman and as a result he might feel like wanting to rape a woman who resembles her in order to feel good (see also How your past affects your present). Some people wonder why do some men rape old women who are above 60 or even 70 but when they know that the raper picks a target who resembles someone he already knows then the mystery will disappear.
Compensation: some men don’t have a good social life and aren’t any lucky when it comes to dating. Those men are put under pressure by their peers and as a result they start to experience shame. Some of those men start to become rapers in order to compensate for the lack of intimacy in their social lives
Regaining control: In my previous article The psephology of control freaks i explained how people who lack control over their own lives try to exert control over the less powerful ones they know. If a man felt he is not in control of his life and he wasn’t brave enough to regain that control in a socially acceptable way then he might become a raper just to overpower a helpless victim and so feel in control
Nothing about dress code up there…!!!
Red Thread the big mouth and extended arm of PNC was given 400 thou US…They should be asked to show how that money was spent..or —squandered..
Red Thread is like little goat sheep dropping ready to roll as soon as the winds pick to see if they can gain some political miles.
The top copper was wrong so what..U need red thread in on this ..red thread should go look for bull to see how many more underage school girls he molesting.
Don’t we all know how deprave red tread are? You have a bundle of pnc woman,except for one that makes up the tread. so can anything good come out of them? Can we ever forget when one bandit was shot and killed by the police, the big fat one from red tread tell kaieteur news that her son was a very good boy? That how her son was a hard working mason?
Whiles violating is not right and something i would never support, the Red thread ought to understand and try to come to grips with some of the man causes of rape. i think Mr. Hickens was trying to say in his statement the prevention is better than cure.