Rape • Let's stop blaming the victim

We were shocked by the then Law Society vice-president's statements posted recently on social media, and then deleted, which perpetuated the most basic rape myths to imply that a survivor of rape consented to intercourse and was not raped

- Sugidha Nithiananthan Director, Advocacy and Research Aware

(Concerns of sexual assault victims should not be minimised or dismissed: Shanmugam, March 24; and Singapore-based TikToker found guilty of raping woman he met on Tinder, March 21).

It is more appalling that Mr Chia Boon Teck defended himself by saying that he spoke as a criminal lawyer, when both Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon and Justice Vincent Hoong unequivocally stated last year in the High Court that the perpetuation of rape myths has no place in our justice system. Rape myths are untrue assumptions and beliefs about why rapes happen, focusing blame on the survivor.