This Is How You Shut Down Victim-Blaming

If you are ever at a loss to respond to victim-blaming, the act of assigning responsibility to the victim of a crime (especially sexual assault), rather than its perpetrator, take a page from New York City councilwoman Laurie Cumbo's book. Earlier this week, Cumbo appeared on CNN to speak with host Pamela Brown to discuss the case of an adolescent woman, who reports she was the victim of a horrific gang rape in Brownsville, Brooklyn last week. "Every woman in the city of New York should feel safe," Cumbo declared, "whether they are coming home late at night, early in the morning, coming from a party, or going to work extremely late." We can all agree on that, right? Brown, however, didn't seem satisfied. "But I have to ask you about this, councilwoman, law enforcement sources have told CNN that the victim in this case, she was drunk, combative, and bit a police officer and that she initially refused treatment," Brown said. "What can you tell us about that?" "I would say that that’s typical of just what I spoke about," Cumbo returned, "that individuals often talk about the woman. They rarely talk about the individuals who actually committed the rape." Preach, councilwoman. Cumbo then tackled Brown's insinuation that the young woman is in some way to blame for what happened to her — CNN heard she was not on her best behavior, after all! — by refusing to engage it. "We shouldn't talk about whether she was drunk...properly dressed...the time of the evening that it happened... We need to focus in this situation on those five individuals that committed this heinous crime," she stated. View the video above for the full eloquent reply.