Church tells women that the best way to stop sexual harassment is to ‘wear clothes’

The community of Jeffersonville, Indiana is outraged over a sign displayed by a local church which suggested that women are to blame for sexual misconduct committed against them.

According to CBS affiliate WLKY, Emmanuel Baptist Church displayed a sign on its property stating, “Stop Sexual Harassment. Wear Clothes.”

Outrage over the sign didn’t go unnoticed and it was taken down by the church’s pastor Sunday night.

From WLKY:

“As a mom of two daughters, this infuriated me. As a female myself, this infuriated me. As a human being, this infuriated me,” Jeffersonville resident Allyson Condra said.

“This brought tears to my eyes, and, I’m sorry, but being a resident in this town of mine that I love, I don’t accept this and I do not see that anyone should accept this,” Jeffersonville resident Melissa Scully said.

“I mean, would you say that to a 6-year-old girl who has been assaulted when they wear overalls and pigtails,” Jeffersonville resident Madilyn Shipman said.

Speaking to KIRO 7,  church pastor Sindey Fulton is claiming ignorance over the sign, saying that he doesn’t know who put it up and that he didn’t approve it.

In a statement to WHAS 11’s Dennis Ting, Fulton said the sign was put up after he left church on Sunday.

“There is no place for the message of that sign. … I’m grieved that our church would ever send out that kind of message,” the statement read. “I am sorry for the pain that it has caused and apologize to the community for the offense. Steps will be taken to ensure that such messages never come from our church again.”

One has to wonder what the person who approved the sign thought the reaction would be. As the Friendly Atheist’s Sarabeth Caplin points out, the logic speaks for itself.

I guess we’ll just have to wait for the church’s next signs: “Avoid robbery; don’t own anything.” “Avoid car accidents, walk everywhere.” “Avoid kidnapping, don’t reproduce.”

Those make just as much sense.

Featured image via WLKY

Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.