“On Monday evening, BU police alerted people to three separate incidents of sexual assault near campus. In several of the incidents, a man approached a female from behind and attempted to lift up her skirt. Police said that a number of similar assaults had been reported over the weekend, suggesting they were the work of one serial creep.
Metro Boston devoted its Tuesday cover to the story. The image, though, seems to, uh, take the visual perspective of this skirt-obsessed groper. It shows a woman in a knee-length skirt and heels, her head and shoulders cropped out of the picture entirely. Accompanying the image is the headline “BU BABES BEWARE.” Critics argued the wording put the onus for preventing sexual assault on the skirt-clad ladies of Boston.”
Safe Hub Collective called them out on the sexism and victim-blaming and they apologized. Good work SHC!
“We appreciate the Metro’s quick response and sincere apology to its readers,” writes Safe Hub Collective. “However, the cover itself is indicative of how much work we still have to do when it comes to reporting on violence against women.”
