{"id":27954,"date":"2018-12-10T12:30:18","date_gmt":"2018-12-10T12:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thevoiceoflondon.co.uk\/?p=27954"},"modified":"2018-12-10T12:30:18","modified_gmt":"2018-12-10T12:30:18","slug":"thongs-out-for-consent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/thongs-out-for-consent\/","title":{"rendered":"Thongs Out For Consent"},"content":{"rendered":"
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More than one year in since the #MeToo movement has emerged and yet, prejudices that lie around sexual victims aren’t put to rest.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>The case in Cork at the beginning of November sparked outrage after a senior defence barrister used an alleged rape victim’s choice of underwear as consent to sex.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

During the trial, the defence lawyer Elizabeth O’Connell\u00a0told<\/a> the jury: “You have to look at the way she was dressed. She was wearing a thong with a lace front.”<\/p>\n

It was enough for the statement to cause consternation, increase media attention, and women to take to the streets carrying lingerie tied to placards as a sign that clothes do not mean consent.<\/p>\n

The hashtags #IBelieveHer and #ThisIsNotConsent have quickly erupted on social media, thousands posting pictures of their underwear on Twitter which led to protests across Ireland including Cork, Dublin and Belfast.<\/p>\n

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Can shops start to advertise "Rape" and "Non rape" underwear please?
I need to know what I'm signing up for when I pick up some underwear.
Wouldn't want to contribute to a man's right to rape me now, would I? #ThisIsNotConsent<\/a>
I don't want to be a woman in this country.<\/p>\n

— L (@Gandalfbbz) November 16, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n