Women have been sharing pictures of their underwear on Twitter with the hashtag #thisisnotconsent after a teen's choice of underwear was used as evidence against her in an alleged rape case.
As well as the reaction on Twitter a series of protests over sexual consent have been taking place all over Ireland, just a week after a man was acquitted of raping the 17-year-old.
During the trial, according to the Irish Examiner, a defence lawyer told the jury: "You have to look at the way she was dressed. She was wearing a thong with a lace front."
In response to the defence lawyer using the teen's underwear in their closing statement Twitter has been flooded with women sharing pictures of their underwear in solidarity and to say 'although they are wearing it they are not asking for it'.
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Initiated by a private Facebook group, the message was then spread by Susan Dillon, a member of the group who also runs the Twitter account I Believe Her - Ireland.
Susan told the Irish Independent: "One of the women in the group was angry at the comments made, as we all were.
"Irrespective of the other evidence... no item of the complainant's clothing implied consent.
"If a jury is a representative sample of the population, then it's clear we have some work to do to dispel this archaic myth that clothing invites rape."
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Taking to Twitter women shared pictures of their hipsters, thongs, full briefs and boxers to prove that none of them mean yes.
One user wrote: "Clothes are not consent. A thong is not consent. Therefore, this should not be used as evidence of consent in court."
Another added: "This topic gets to me because it doesn't matter what underwear the victim was wearing. Lace, no lace, thong or no thong or nothing at all, if the victim doesn't consent, it's rape. Absolutely disgusting, I'm heartbroken this needs to change."
A third user said: "Imagine putting on a nice pair of underwear to make you feel good and then getting told you asked to be raped because of it?"
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Also pointing out that sometimes women like to make themselves feel good just for themselves, a fourth user wrote: "Wearing sexy underwear doesn't justify rape. We women wear things to feel sexy for ourselves. That doesn't mean that anyone can just use us for his own pleasure without our agreement."
Irish MP Ruth Coppinger also held up a lace thong in in the Dáil (Irish parliament) to highlight victim blaming.
She argued: "It might seem embarrassing to show a pair of thongs here... how do you think a rape victim or a woman feels at the incongruous setting of her underwear being shown in a court?"
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Featured Image Credit: Pixabay
