Male chauvinism has taken quite some time to accept that women are not objects, that they are entitled to being who they are without interference (although half the world is still catching up). However, campaigns such as “Take Back the Night” only highlight how sad it is that people have to fight for the understanding that certain actions are not open invitations (i.e, wearing provocative clothing etc).
Likewise, it seems that a series of attacks in Australia against Koreans have had the Queensland Police Force (the state where I live) blaming the situations they were in: “vulnerable; it was late at night and they were displaying quality iPhones, iPads and the like,” (Detective Inspector Rod Kemp) rather than any actual racial motivation. Funnily enough, another recent attack against a Korean also had the same hallmarks, but the victim also claimed that not only did the police blame him for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, they also failed to properly investigate it, prompting a protest from the South Korean embassy. The victim also claims that the police officers were derogatory and said “Asians are stupid,” etc. This victim was attacked at a train station 5 minutes from where I live.
The question however remains, where are we responsible for our own safety? How do we ensure that we do not end up becoming the victim? Should we adopt a campaign similar to “take back the night”, or should we instead be a little more responsible perhaps? Perhaps a little more militant? These situations happy to all Asians, whether native or new, across all countries.
Sometimes it can be seen that rather than going and demanding that the social system obtain justice, we need to stand up and fight for it ourselves.
