If you’ve been on social media this past week, you must have come across pictures of lacy underwear on your feed. Women are putting up snaps of their undies on social media with hashtag #ThisIsNotConsent. And there is a reason behind this, outrageous enough to make your blood boil.

The Issue

On November 6, 2018, in Ireland, a criminal court acquitted a 27-year old man who was guilty of raping a 17-year old minor girl. If this sounds unbelievable, the reason for acquitting will give you chills. The rapist’s defense lawyer held the victim’s underwear in the courtroom and said,

Does the evidence out-rule the possibility that she was attracted to the defendant and was open to meeting someone and being with someone?

The jury that consisted of eight men and four women let the accused walk out. Like there was no harm done, no heinous crime committed, no wrongdoing and no logic!

The victim was blamed for wearing a thong with a lace-front. This sparked anger and outrage in Ireland as well as the rest of the world. The public took to Twitter to speak up against this irrational and inhumane decision. Women started posting images of their underwears to show it did not mean consent in any way. Clothing is not consent, period.

Why It’s An Issue

We’re saying it loud and clear, Anything except a yes is a no. Clothing is not consent. And there was no way the girl was “asking for it” purely because of what she was wearing. There is no way in hell a girl is asking to be raped by virtue of wearing lacy underwear or anything for that matter. People need to understand they have no right or authority over someone else’s appearance or choice of clothing. Stay in your lane. The court’s decision is sickening and people have been rightfully up in arms about the decision. It seems like there won’t be any end to the vocal disapproval any time soon. And for that, thank God for social media.

Another day when victim-blaming wins over justice. How long do we expect for things to go on like this? How low can one go to save themselves after committing a crime, too monstrous to even think about? How do we let such incidents slip away and become one of the thousands every single day? We invite you to mull over these questions tonight…