I dunno.....it would seem to me if there was a feeling that I had to convey and get across to others, this would be the one that I would HAVE to have a very strong feeling about. If you can imagine this from a male’s point of view, to advertise the corresponding crime (I was ‘buggered’ up the a$$ in jail, lockup, etc.) it would really take some damn guts and determination - there’s embarassment, shame, privacy and justice, all balled up into one pile. I don’t see it as sick; I see it as a desperate need to convey the sense of pure violation experience and a need to stop it.
I have to more or less agree with you... maybe this is just the best way for some people to deal with it. I think that any woman who would wear a t-shirt like that is really really brave, and probably doing a heck of a lot to raise awareness of the issue.
But what is the reader supposed to DO about it? Just say "ah, gee, that's too bad"...? It seems a bit artificial as some kind of proud announcement of survival. Sure, surviving a rape and not subsequently losing control of one's whole life may be something that indicates a strength of character. But to then need to announce it to everyone you meet... well... it'll certainly be awkward.
Seems like it is merely a way to force other people you don't know to be uneasy in your presence. It sets the agenda for what you want them to think about. Forces it. It's an aggressive and pushy, almost arrogant attitude.
If something like that ever happened to me, whether or not I ever become at ease enough to discuss it with people, I'm pretty sure it's not the first thing I would want people to know about me.