Alice Brine explains what is wrong with victim blaming in 200 words

An Auckland based comedian has highlighted the glaring flaws in victim blaming in a Facebook status that has since gone viral. The 27-year-old wrote: “I’m gonna start going home with random very drunk guys and stealing all of their shit. Everything they own. It won’t be my fault though…they were drunk. They should have known better.”

Alice says the analogy, of likening rape to stealing people’s possessions, has been in her head for a while. She explains: “Obviously having your Audi stolen and getting raped are completely different things. I mean, steal everything I own rather than being raped. But it was the only thing I could think of that would even come close to putting the point across.

The status reads: “‘Can I please steal your Gucci watch?’ He said ‘no’ but I just wasn’t sure if he meant it. He was drunk. He brought this on himself. You should have seen how he was dressed at the club, expensive shirts and shoes. What kind of message is he sending with that!?” 

The post has since been liked over 80,000 times and shared over 30,000 times. Alice said she decided to write the status after becoming angry at how rape cases were written about and how victims were treated in the press. She said: “There was a headline I read recently, like ‘she said no, but did she really mean no’. It’s crazy that that’s the quotes in there, I read it like, are you fucking kidding me?

“I was fuming reading things like that. The fact that in New Zealand and in other countries that the argument ‘did she mean it’ is even allowed to stand is infuriating.

Alice told us: “It’s really kicked off. It’s been hectic. The reaction has been 99.99996 per cent positive, but right at the start I had a few dumb guys sending me sleazy dad jokes and messages like ‘hey, come to my house and rob me off all my stuff’. There were guys messaging in gross things, people who obviously had a massive chip on their shoulder when it came to consent. Then this one guy told me that if I tried to rob his Gucci watch he would rape me. So I decided to screenshot it and post on Facebook to out him.

“After that I haven’t got anything, nobody has the balls to send anymore rape threats.”

Despite the small amount of negative reactions, the Auckland comedian says the majority of her messages come from grateful women, some who have been victims of rape and sexual assault themselves. “My inbox is full of messages, it’s been overwhelming. But it’s really inspiring to hear people say, I’m so relieved you did this.

“I had no idea it would have this kind of impact.”