Rape Culture in Shame
... and “kick some butts”, the look that he gives his partner after Asta walks off shows that he still doesn’t take her seriously. Any girl that complains about the boys is looked down on by the law which should be supporting them. All of the men and women that live in Ginborak are helping to support the rape culture by not doing anything about it. The boys’ fathers think that what the boys are doing are just having fun, and that it is the girls who are leading the boys on instead of the boys forcing themselves on the girls. The mothers also believe that the boys aren’t doing anything wrong and that the girls want sex from the boys, because they are “sluts”. When Lizzie complains about being raped, the rumors start that she is slutty and easy to get sex from. When she goes down the shops, she is abused by the boys’ mothers, they say that she is the one who wanted the boys, instead of the other way around. When Lizzie’s father goes down the pub, he is told by the boys’ fathers that Lizzie was leading the boys on and that she wanted sex from them. The girls who are raped suffer many times; they suffer the rape, the response and humiliation of the town and the fact that they can’t do anything about it. Directly after the rape, the town immediately blames the girl, the people think that the girl shouldn’t have been there, or that she was leading the boys on. If the girl continues and complains, like Lizzie, the girl and their family are abused by the rest of the town who supports the rape culture. Lizzie is labelled a slut by the rest of the town, Tim is turned away by his former mates and the whole family is made to feel like rejects. Other things also happen to the family because Lizzie continues with the charges, their house is graffitied and then as a last resort from the boys and their fathers, they attack the house. The attack on the house shows us that the boys and their fathers will stop at nothing to get off the charges, even if it involves committing more crimes. Because it isn’t just the boys, but also their fathers who attack, we can see that the fathers fully support the boys and will do anything to get the charges dropped. This shows us the extent that this town will go to, to cover up these rapes. Because the boys have done rapes before and not been punished, they think they never will. But when they are chall...