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In cases of sexual assault against women, the victim might be asked questions like what was she wearing? leading to the implication that she was somehow "asking for it" (i.e. provoking her attacker) if she was wearing a certain style of clothing, thereby giving the perpetrator a mitigating factor. It's a form of victim blaming:

A typical expression of victim blaming is the "asking for it" idiom, e.g. "she was asking for it" said of a victim of violence or sexual assault.

I'm wondering what would happen in a sexual assault case brought to a sharia court where the female victim was wearing hijab.

Question: Are women in hijab assumed not to be "asking for it" in sexual assault cases?

It's possible the sharia could interpret hijab as an unequivocal expression that she is not "asking for it".

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  • Sharia court most likely won't take that into consideration. The perpetrator would be punished if he is found guilty even if the girl was naked. He is supposed to lower his gaze not assault her.
    – Sakib Arifin
    Commented Apr 17, 2017 at 7:41
  • @Uma: It's quite possible this is simply a misunderstanding on my part due to lack of familiarity with the processes.
    – Rebecca J. Stones
    Commented Apr 17, 2017 at 8:40
  • You're mixing different questions here as far as I can tell, one is "is a woman who gets sexually assaulted while not observing hijab partially blamed for getting assaulted", and the other is "does her lack of hijab have legal relevance in a trial". Which one is the one you meant to ask?
    – G. Bach
    Commented Apr 17, 2017 at 13:57
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    @Uma maybe you should consider answering the question.
    – Medi1Saif ♦
    Commented Apr 23, 2018 at 8:00

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From a legal perspective, the act of assault is an offence in and of itself, regardless of what she was wearing. Islamic law ordains covering up - dressing modestly and lowering one's gaze - and the perpetrator is guilty of not lowering his gaze even if she were naked.

However, your question's opening suggests that you're also interested in perception beyond just the legal consequences. In that case, I would say that it varies greatly across societies and cultures. You just need to look around to find the most bizarre kinds of victim blaming in the news, from eye contact to speaking in a particular manner to smiling to whatnot.

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