SINGAPORE, Nov 15 — Singapore’s oldest youth publication was forced to apologise after its agony aunt’s response to a letter about rape sparked widespread condemnation.
The letter purportedly written by an adolescent girl to Teenage magazine’s agony aunt recounted her alleged rape by a friend. It was published in the November issue, which hit newsstands last week.
In her account, the girl admitted that she had lied to her parents to stay over at a boy’s place unsupervised.
After kissing and cuddling, the boy started to undress her, but the girl, who claimed to be a virgin, said she had had too much to drink and did not protest.
She added that she was unable to remember anything after, but found herself naked in bed the next morning beside him.
Kelly Chopard, the writer behind the column, replied that she had “acted like a girl who had been around” and should be “grateful he wore a condom”.
Chopard also added that she was too “naive”.
She also added: “You gave the idea that everything was okay, you accepted wine, then there was the dancing, kissing.
“You can’t blame him for thinking a sexual connection was all right. Frankly, I understand why the guy misunderstood.”
Following criticism accusing them of promoting victim blaming, Teenage released an official apology on Facebook on November 11, saying, in part, that the magazine did not mean to “lead to the impression that rape is acceptable”.
Chopard also apologised, but denied blaming the victim.
“There is no intention of victim-blaming, just an attempt to point out that one’s actions have consequences,” she said in her statement, according to the BBC
“No-one can be more sorry for this girl than I.”
