Stop blaming victims for sexual assaults

Sexual harassment cases have been on the rise, with most victims being women. But it's not unusual to hear comments that women should dress properly and behave themselves to avoid sexual harassment.

In the recent past, Henan provincial police even posted a message on its micro blog, a twitter-like service, that women who dress inappropriately, or like dating, drinking or smoking are easy targets, sparking a heated public debate. The storm of criticism the micro blog raised forced the police to withdraw it.

Such comments and wrong assumptions - blaming the victims instead of the perpetrators - show that we have to change our way of thinking on sexual harassment. They wrongly suggest offenders' actions are pardonable because the victims have done something wrong.