How Modesty Doctrines Feed Into Rape Culture

I was raised Christian. Some of my earliest memories involve attending church programmes and participating in church activities with my mum. 

In addition to being raised Christian, the first secondary school I attended was actually a Christian school. We regularly read the Bible, had church services and had meetings where seemingly “proper” Christian behaviour was taught.

One of those things taught was modesty. In a memory that is not so hazy, I remember one of the regular post church Bible meetings which the school had every Sunday evening. This time however, what was being discussed was how women needed to dress better so as not to “lead men into sin and temptation”. I remember a female senior of mine arguing against that belief. 

I cannot remember how her disagreement was received but even though I did not know what the word “feminist” was, the twelve year old in me knew that something was incredibly wrong somewhere.

Fast forward to more than a decade later and the twenty five year old in me is now more than aware that modesty doctrines contribute to rape culture. This is because telling women to dress properly so as not to “lead men into sin” begs the question: “What sin exactly?”. 

Modesty doctrines teach that a woman’s body can cause men to act in ways that are irrational; still, when men act in ways that are wrong such as rape and sexual assault, modesty doctrines preach that the fault is on her for not covering up or covering up in line with what can prevent rape. 

However, the truth is that there is nothing a woman wears or does not wear that can preempt or stop the violation of her body. By telling women not to wear short skirts so as not to be raped, those who push for modest dressing conveniently forget that toddlers and women who wear long skirts also experience rape. 

The terrible thing about modesty culture is that it presents a woman’s body as a site of temptation. It presents a woman’s body as that which ensures that men evade blame and accountability should they hurt us.

In Christian circles it is not uncommon to hear statements like: “Cover your hair” and “Wear the short skirt but in your house and for your husband”. And why is that? Why is a woman’s body framed as a “thing” belonging to everyone but her? 

Why do we teach young girls approaching puberty to more or less hate their bodies? Why don’t we discuss how even when women are led to cover up our bodies so as not to draw unwanted attention, the attention still comes nonetheless in the form of groping and catcalls? How do we move forward as feminist women if we do not actively criticise how a woman’s body is held as a potential cause for sin; instead of the correct narrative being that a rapist uses his body to disrespect women?

To better understand the harmful nature of modesty doctrines, I asked some women to share their thoughts. Below are their responses.

Jesutoni

I think modesty doctrines can be harmful because they put the weight of the action on victims by saying: “Oh maybe if you had dressed properly”,  “What were you wearing?”, “Why would you come outside your house like that?” and “What did you expect?”. This is instead of facing the actual perpetrator or rapist or assaulter. 

The focus should be on the action of the person who did the wrong and not the person who the wrong was done to. It doesn’t make any sense because unfortunately even children and babies in diapers are molested and raped. Even then, people still find a way to say: “Oh why did the mother leave the child there?” instead of directing the attention on the wrong the person has done.

As far as I”m concerned, rapists and those who assault are not okay and they obviously lack self control. They put the responsibility of their actions on those they’ve harmed instead of owning up.

Amarachi

Lol. I don’t even know how and if this relates but one time, my sister was wearing a full length gown and a boy told her she was “rapeable”. And being “rapeable” was a compliment.

One other time, a male Sunday school teacher was teaching me the act of covering up because not all brothers have that discipline and I don’t know what they are fighting.

Eden*

So I grew up in a conservative religious household, and this was the rhetoric from a lot of elders around me. As girls, we were told to cover up properly or risked being raped or assaulted. Although I knew it wasn’t my fault, I was assaulted as a child. And all the times when it happened while I was young, I still fed into the belief that women had a big part to play in ensuring they were safe from GBV. 

To tackle the way women’s bodies are seen as sins, we need to attack it from the source – religious bodies.

Amina Deka Asma

For starters, these doctrines are misogynistic and extremely patriarchal, with deep foundations of colonialism and abuse of women. Women are viewed to be lesser than, and have for centuries been viewed in this light by the people who practice and support these doctrines.

Yes, blaming victims for not being modest is a rhetoric that I hear all the time, something that was asked to me after I was raped by my cousin who lived with us at home. 

How women dress should not be used as a tool to prevent men from “sinning”, men shouldn’t sin period. The objectification of women, girls and even babies bodies has nothing to do with them, and everything to do with men who choose to sexualise body parts. 

Sexual abuse happens because another person wants to abuse another person, no matter what they are wearing.

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It is very important to note that women’s bodies are not objects that exist to be scrutinised or sexualised.

The harms of modesty doctrines are the fact that they justify the abuse of women and sexualise women. 

Until there is an end to the belief that a woman’s body is a site of temptation, we would continue to see rape justified if the survivor was not “covered enough”. 

*Name changed to protect identity