Can we do anything about this?

I agree but I think the issue is that if you are a psycho rapist then becoming an illegal cab driver is a way to fulfil your sick ambitions and be completely untraceable so whilst most cab drivers are completely normal, you will get a disproportionate number of perverts in trades like this.

It's like I agree that it's not your fault if you get burgled, but I still think ads that make people think about security are positive.

I think the thing about this ad is that it gets people talking and makes people aware that there is a BIG difference betwen getting a mini cab you call (traceable driver/car) and getting in one outside a club run (often) by criminal gangs where, best case, the driver has no insurance, and, worst case, the driver is a wannabe rapist and completely untraceable. Many younger women are not really aware of this issue.

OH, sorry. So it is a public campaign . Well I have to admit I'm wrong there.
Still not sure I agree with all the effort and public money going into telling potential victimsi.e all womenwhat to do, though. There is definitely a sense here of the victim being responsible in some way for what might happen to her. I don't like the focus on victims: the focus should be on the men who decide and choose to rape. Something like a "We are watching you" message for potential rapists or similar would be more appropriate.

Sakura- cabwise isnt a cab company- it's a service run by Mayor of London/ TFL to text you 3 licensed minicab numbers so you can call one.

I'm not sure how many of you live in London but unlicensed minicabs are a massive issue, not a slight one. If you leave a club there will be tons of them waiting and it is really tempting because they are cheaper and easier to find than a black cab.

I know at least 5 people who have had dodgy experiences with dodgy cabs- all of them are women. Fortunately they were all pretty sober and v assertive and managed to diffuse the situation.

Getting an unlicensed minicab is like getting into a strnager's car but a lot of people dont see it like that.

I really cannot fathom why this advert is an issue.

I find the poster upsetting to see but it actually would stop me getting in an unlicensed cab. I did this a lot when I was younger and was just very lucky, I was normally with a friend but can totally see how it could have been a different story if I was alone.

This ad reminds me of the drink driving ones which are horrible to watch, seeing children getting run over etc - but they actually really worked and in England drinking and driving is pretty much a taboo and that's not the case in other countries I've lived.

I know what you mean about some rapists possibly finding these a turn on, but - they are rapists so of course they will. If this stops women from putting themselves in a risky situation then mission accomplished. Of course it's not the woman's fault - but it's never a bad idea to reduce the risks.

By the way there have been ads about keeping your doors locked and not leaving keys in obvious places - this is not saying you're asking to be burgled!

If you've read anything about the psychology of advertising and marketing you'll know that a lot of the techniques they use are designed to inspire fear in the consumers.

I think its a terrible ad.

Let's remember its an advert, not a public campaign. Its aim first and foremost is to make profit, so it doesn't really give a shit about rape per se

I think its shocking its used rape as a way of increasing its profits

I think it blames the victim, suggesting that it's women's fault they get raped. A sort of "see, we told you so: you should have used our company" mentality

I think if they really care about women, they could put an ad up saying

"Message to men who rape: we don't want you working for our company"

or somesuch

also - dittany:

"For starters it would remind rapists that at least someone is prepared to hold them accountable for their actions given that at the moment no-one is."

It's not like we have the police, or magistrates, or judges, or any of that sort of legal system that arrests and punishes rapists, thus holding them accountable for their OH WAIT YES WE DO.

"Which ads about locking your house or leaving your mobile on the bar?"

clicky oh look it's a man
clicky
clicky and read
clicky

and tethersend:

I'm under the impression (perhaps I'm wrong) that a service whereby some sort of network and software tracks all the licensed cabs in London, receives a text message, uses that message to locate the person, then calculates which three cabs are closest, then texts there numbers to the person, would cost some sort of money to set up and run. I would also assume that 35p may not necessarily cover this cost and so service users are contributing at least in part to the cost of the service and the rest covered by taxes, much like when you pay for a prescription. I assume you don't complain when you have an ailment and your doctor prescribes you medicine that you have to pay £7.20 when the medicines themselves could easily cost a multiple of that? And similarly I don't think service users would complain about paying 35p in this case.

My main gripe here is the funny concept a lot of complainants here have about apportioning blame.

It is a solid, irrefutable fact that a lot of crime (including but not limited to rape) is avoidable. The presence of a dependable police force and justice system prevents crime from being committed by all but the most determined - the kind of people who would be prevented from offending merely by the lack of an opportunity, and care little about any repercussions they might face.
So, all that is left to be done is reduce the opportunities these offenders get. This poster, along with the ones I've linked above, are part of an initiative to reduce opportunistic crime.
No one's likely to to try and steal your phone from a securely zipped inside pocket on a busy street, but if you're jabbering away on it noisily in a deserted alleyway after dark, the likelihood of an opportunistic miscreant to attempt to remove it from your possession greatly increases.
Similarly, you're less likely to get raped if you go home with a large group of friends or in safe transport, than if you go home on your own or, for example, an unlicensed minicab.

At no point do these posters even suggest that it is the victims fault that (s)he got raped, and I think it does your intelligence little justice to read that into it. You're putting two and two together and coming up with the number you want, but whatever it is it isn't 4. No one will deny that in a rape incident, the rapist is in the wrong and his/her actions are totally inexcuseable, but.. well, better safe than sorry, no?

Perhaps conversely to this argument, I think if I walked down a dodgy district of a major city, drunk, after dark, browsing the internet on my smartphone, few people would have much sympathy for me if it got stolen.

I'm finding most of the replies here totally knee-jerk and disproportionate, and the same with the original post from tethersend.

If we set out some known facts here:

1. A significantly higher proportion of rape victims are women rather than men
2. Some of these female rape victims are raped when they take unlicensed minicabs
3. It logically follows that reducing the number of women who take unlicensed mini cabs would reduce the number of women raped as a result of taking unlicensed minicabs
4. This poster will educate both men AND women as to the problem of unlicensed minicabs (I for one had never considered the idea until I saw the poster) and provides them with a solution
5. This education and solution will reduce the number of women taking unlicensed minicabs
6. By combining 5 and 3 we can deduce that this poster therefore reduces the occurrence of rape
7. Rape is bad
8. Therefore, reducing the occurence of rape is good
9. Combine 8 and 5 and it is clearly shown that this poster is good

Q.E.D.

It's the way it is positioned - the abject terror of the Woman. The expression on her face with the text just makes a really disturbing statement. I can't express it succinctly as I'd like but I totally agree the ad should have foregrounded the fact that some rapist scumbags parade as cabdrivers and to be on guard when accepting a lift.

Best to book in advance from someone you have used before. But even these measures are not a guarantee, these "men" go to extreme lengths.

I don't see myself as weak or vulnerable either, and I have walked home alone at night on a fairly frequent basis. That nothing bad has happened to me at those times is luck really (indeed it has been my dh who has been unlucky enough to be mugged, and he is a very big guy who prior to the mugging certainly didn't feel particularly vulnerable).

All the women that I know who have been raped were raped in "safe" situations when they did not know that they were vulnerable.

I think that people do need to be alerted to the fact that getting into a car with just anyone is probably a really bad idea even if it is cheap, but I do agree it should that if shock tactics are the way to go then demonising the unlicensed cab driver is more appropriate.

"I don't see myself as some kind of weak and vulnerable victim"

Neither did I, but I became one when I was raped. I was vulnerable and I was physically weaker than my rapist. How I saw myself became irrelevant.

At the moment the posters wouldn't work because everything is leaning so in favour of rapists. The sense of entitlement and the objectification of women is such that to some, that's what were here for. I think the posters might bring some level of respect into focus. It's not about changing the minds of individual rapists at the moment, we're too far gone as a society for that. It's about changing the attitudes of society as a whole (you know, the people who don't rape but think a drunk girl in a mini skirt os tantamount to a come on). Once society kind of realises that rape isn't the fault of the woman but the reponsibility of the male then rape will decline.

"I don't know any women who are not afraid of getting raped."

I am not and never have been afraid of being raped , I haven't ever changed my life or modified my behaviour, because I don't see myself as some kind of weak and vulnerable victim.
I have walked home alone late at night both as a teenager and as a mature woman.
Neither am I afraid for the safety of my 20 year old daughter.

Yet again Dittany , you are speaking for all womankind, I admire your conviction but it doesn't make you right 100% of the time.

Thanks! I'm going to write to the TFL and check out that link as well. Can we get lots of people to write? It would be more effective if it were more than just one person having a moan.

Make a complaint more about taxis than advertising) online:

www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/contact/pco/general.aspx

I also like the idea of sticking stickers onto the posters to redirect the message, if anyone has a short and catchy way to sum up our argument.

A punchier way of saying "Would you blame a man for getting mugged? Dont blame the victim! Blame the predator posing as a pretend mini-cab driver!"

We could write to Transport For London customer Services

TfL Customer Relations
Tel: 020 7222 5600 and ask to be put through to TfL Customer Relations
Fax: 020 3054 5307
Email: [email protected]
Post: 4th Floor, Zone Y4, 14 Pier Walk, North Greenwich, London SE10 0ES

So all issues about campaigns and blame etc aside, is there something we can do about this ad? I mean, surely there's someone we can go to and say, "Hey, it's actually not okay that you've created an advert with the purpose of profitting from a fear of rape"? After all, it's not a campaign, it's an advert. It would be one thing if it was a misguided attempt at raising awareness of personal safety (which would be bad enough), but it's not. It's for a profit.

Are the people who are suggesting that the safety check-lists create an unnecessary climate of fear saying that women should ignore them and walk alone late at night, leave their drinks unattended etc? Or are they saying that women should still not do these things, but they might perhaps be unaware that they shouldn't because of the lack of awareness campaigns? Or that they don't object to the message, merely the way it's delivered (clearly objectionable in this case, but what about others)?

I'm a bit confused, because I can see how these campaigns are creating an atmosphere which is limiting for women, but I'm not sure what the solution is.

WEll, exactly Portofino - so why don't we issue safety guidelines along the lines of 'never be alone with a man' as they might be one of those dodgy sorts who rape you? No, we don't because we just want to live our lives without fear. Sadly, I think all of us have personal experience of rape or know someone who has - and mostly not by evil strangers as you say.

The more I think about it, the more it annoys me. This idea that men are either 'evil rapists' who are not even responsible for their behaviour because they are so far gone - so it's up to us to stop them . Or that they are so governed by their impulses, that if a woman is alluring, they can't really be expected to stop. WE're not in a film, people are not 'baddies' we have to fight - they are PEOPLE who have learned that it's ok to do xyz.

Portofino, really, I don;'t blame you for your attitude because it is what we have grown up to expect. And of course, there is an element of taking risk. But EVEN IF WE DO take a risk, we should not expect to be attacked/raped. AS if it was a passive activity (!) that just 'happened' to us because of what we did or didn't do.

I am afraid I am with Dittany on this one - MEN can stop rape. Most men DO.

Really?

I agree with HB that MOST rapists aren't the ones that hide in the bushes (or in unlicenced minicabs for that matter) and indeed know the women involved. Statistics back that up.

exactly HB.

you could, actually, imagine a poster that killed two birds with one stone - it could primarily remind men that a woman getting into your car drunk and wearing a short skirt does not mean you get to have sex with her, while thus subtly making women aware that sometimes men think it does hence the risk.

I disagree with you portofino

Most rapists don't believe they are guilty of rape. They are normal men who convince themselves that the sex was consensual or at the very worst, a little "persuasive" and they are as horrified and disgusted by the rare rapist who jumps out of the shadows as the rest of us are.

They don't associate their coercive behaviour with the rare stranger-rape that is the standard image of rape in our society.