Linking rape to smoking and drinking biased

In a recent interview, a judge in Haidian district, Beijing, analyzed 151 rape cases in the past three years, and concluded that the women who smoke and drink are easier prey for rapists. Comments:

It is common sense that many women who are sexually attacked choose not to call the police. In 2009, a man confessed to raping more than 100 women over 16 years, yet he was not caught until the last victim resisted. Therefore even if the majority of victims in the judge's analyzed cases smoked or drank, that does not lead to the conclusion. On the contrary, that possibly shows that women who smoke or drink tend to be more likely to defend themselves and are more inclined to seek justice after an attack.

Beijing News, Oct 28

There is no conclusion more absurd than one derived from so few criminal cases. The judge's conclusion is hardly persuasive because it is not done following strict sociological methods. Besides, the judge used inappropriate expressions, like calling smoking and drinking "bad habits", which might get the judge in trouble. We live in an age of social media, one should be careful with words.

Guangzhou Evening News, Oct 28

The victims have many different characteristics, why does the judge select smoking and drinking in analysis? For long, many have linked these habits with being masculine and treated women who smoke or drink as aliens. This has been proved false by researchers and it is time to correct these wrong impressions. If smoking and drinking hurt health, they hurt both men and women and we shouldl not blame somebody for drinking only because she is a woman.

sxxw.net, Oct 28