‘Still Not Asking For It’ – this striking topless anti-rape campaign means to put an end to the ‘rape culture’ we currently live in today. Rory Banwell, an Australian photographer, decided to finally take action against people who think that rape is something tat comes as a result to provocative clothes or attitudes.
This is why, in order to put an end to the idea that women ask to be raped based on how they dress, what they say and how much they drank, the series is called ‘Still Not Asking For It’.
The 2013 Australian government report entitled “The nature and extent of sexual assault and abuse in Australia” states that 8/10 women don’t report sexual assaults to the authorities. These numbers are very shocking and thanks to talented photographers like Rory Banwell, we can raise awareness on how rape is affecting our everyday lives without even noticing it.
This amazing anti-rape campaign is here to stay and to finally put an end to “rape culture” as we know it!
“We were so disappointed that people’s initial reactions were that we would need to protect her, purely because of her gender. I was so taken aback by this sentiment that I decided I needed to do ‘something,'” Rory Banwell said. “We can do better and we should do better. For ourselves and for our children. I don’t want my child growing up in a society that accepts sexual violence, accepts the statistics and won’t do anything about it.”
“I liked the idea that regardless of what anyone is wearing, there is no excuse, no justification and no invitation for someone to sexually assault them,” Banwell added. “I decided that by emulating her original photograph, I could create a powerful message and collection of photographs.”
“I would like to include many more people of color, many different genders and anyone who would like to be involved,” she said. “I would really like to include messages about people of color and how they are more likely to be victims of domestic violence, messages specific to males … and [how] ideas about masculinity are detrimental to male victims of sexual assault and the way in which they are treated, messages about transgender, non-binary and non-cis-gendered people and how much more likely they are to be victims of sexual assault, and also messages about different cultures, disability and older survivors of sexual assault.”
“The comments that have been written on the photos have proven how important the project is,” Banwell mentioned. “Maybe someone will think twice before making an inappropriate comment to a workmate or someone when they’re out at a pub. I am just hoping that it opens up a dialogue and helps people to see how prevalent rape culture, sexual violence and sexual harassment is within Australia and how most people accept it.”
