No one expects the Globe or any other tabloid to practice ethical journalism. They make their trade by aiming for the lowest common denominator and breaking the rules by which most professional news organizations abide.

The Globe famously broke from journalistic code in 1991 when it printed the name of the woman who accused William Kennedy Smith of rape. It did so again last Thursday, when it printed a full-page photo of the accuser in the Kobe Bryant case with her face unobscured and her name in large type.

Little harm was probably done by revealing her identity, given the young woman’s name and picture is easily found on the Internet.

But the Globe sunk to a reprehensible low with its photo and headline selection. The photo is apparently from the young woman’s prom — she is shown hiking up her dress and revealing her garter belt. Next to the photo is the question, “Did she really say no?”

While showing a little leg doesn’t make her look like a cloistered nun, the accuser hardly did something unusually provocative for a night at the prom.

So juxtaposing that photo with that rhetorical question is just stupefying: Is the Globe trying to imply that this woman, for acting like the average girl on prom night, is promiscuous? Or that she is the type of person to file a false rape charge?

The Globe editors justify their decision by saying the purpose of the cover and the story was to reveal the young woman’s character. “The girl has made an enormous amount of allegations, and we felt it was time to let the public know exactly who she was,” said Globe co-editor Candace Trunzo.

While there is considerable debate in journalism circles about publishing a rape survivor’s identity, there should be no debate about whether women should be made to feel like they are “asking for it” if they ever show a little skin.

Rape-shield laws are put in place so that a woman’s sexual history is not used against her.

But a prom photo isn’t even sexual history — this is like showing a picture of a murder suspect as a child playing with a toy gun in order to imply guilt.

The Globe apparently thinks this woman is a fraud, and wants to expose her while selling some issues at the newsstand. But the Globe’s cynical exclusive has delivered a huge blow to assault survivors by perpetuating the worst stereotypes and misconceptions about rape.