A good job there aren't many men on MN

[Truckulent]

I think men would be shocked at the level of resentment leveled at them on MN. Almost a seething mass of contempt at times.

I'm a man, been on here for years. And I was surprised by it.

AIBU to think it's a good job there aren't many men on here, or would more men posting help men and women understand each other better?

"I wonder if a concerted campaign to make rape as universally despised as child sex abuse is would make a difference. Either to the incidence rate and/or the conviction rate."

Obviously I move in different circles to most but in my experience the term rapist is pretty reviled by all - on both sides of the law.

LTW, we are on a thread talking about rape.

You then clearly state you contribute to policy within the police force.

I have absolutely no wish to out you, but if you were responsible for parking policy why the hell would you contribute that piece of information to a discussion on the management of rape ?

FWIW, name-calling posters is not going to win any arguments, at all.

LookToWindward - that was a personal attack on dittany .

If you disagree with her posts you can say so and argue against them but don't include a little list with "Ladies, ditanny is a idiot. Trust me - she's doing more harm than good."

And I don't want to accept your "praise" that my posts "are examples of how this should be discussed" .

Dittany calmly,clearly states how she sees things and the more I learn about feminism the more I agree with her world view.

"Ladies, ditanny is a idiot"

No she bloody well isn't.

And please don't call me a lady on a thread like this.

The point about the Warboys case is that even repeat offender stranger rape falls through the hugely flawed system - not that stranger rape is common.

You added that piece of information in an attempt to add gravitas to your arguments.

I often do the same during discussions about the NHS. There is nothing wrong with it, per se. Of course someone in a senior position with many years of coal-face experience has an opinion.

But you are wrong to put yourself forward as some kind of authority on the matter, then deny it when picked up on your viewpoints.

"I have absolutely no wish to out you, but if you were responsible for parking policy why the hell would you contribute that piece of information to a discussion on the management of rape ?"

I might be involved with it. I might not be. However I do see the data and I do know the process involved and how that data is used.

And seriously, there are many contributors to this thread whos' opinions are carefully made, considered and worthwhile. Dittany is not one of these. She needs to learn what a strawman is for a start.

that last post was to LTW, bloody fast moving thread

LTW, fair enough. I've heard that child sex abusers are regarded as being significant targets for violence in prison whereas I've not heard that about rapists. But I'll take your word on this as I'm sure you've regrettably had a lot more exposure to these kinds of people than I hope to ever have.

Is the problem with rape the difficulty of proving that it wasn't consensual. If there are are only the man and the woman present then your only ever going to end up with his word versus her word situation. Add to that there is often a time lag between the alleged crime and it being reported and alcohol or drugs are also sometimes involved.

"This coming from a police officer who believes rape is a "behaviour around sex" not a violent crime."

Case in point.

ah, good, you saw it, LTW

I might be the Queen of England.

Silly argument.

Have the courage of your statements, or don't make them

TheShriekingHarpy

I believe that your statement:

"Baroness Stern also requested an "end to the widespread use of misleading rape conviction data. In particular the 6% rape conviction figure".

makes it sound like Baroness Stern things that the 6% convicion rate is misleading data - i.e. wrong data etc. I think you took it out of context.

Therefore for the benefit of other posters I wanted to ensure I included it in context.

Most reporting within mainstream media gives a very slanted view - they look for the soundbites/story.

Take your links to DV experienced by men - the story makes no account of the physical or financial power difference between men and women in relationships for example.

Dittany - that's why thankfully Prone to Violence is a hard book to find. I support the symmetrical or gender neutral approach in drafting laws trying to address DV/discrimination etc because to deny men can be victims of these crimes would be ludicrous. So to a very limited extent I could be said to agree with Pizzey in terms of women's capacity for violence but...well, let's just say that's as far as it goes - any gender can be violent but which gender is predominantly killed at the hands of the other gender? Women who are violent are often more vilified in the press because it is seen as 'unnatural' so there may well be a bias towards not believing battered men which is equally sad. Doesn't deny the fact that a lot more women die at the hands of their partners than men.

"ah, good, you saw it, LTW

I might be the Queen of England.

Silly argument.

Have the courage of your statements, or don't make them"

Indeed I do, just please don't go saying that I make policy around a particular crime when I've said no such thing.

Oh and LTH I think we are all capable of applying our own critical thinking abilities to the opinions of the other posters on this thread - we don't need you to tell us who we should listen to.

How high handed.

You're welcome dittany - I have great respect for your views and the clarity with which you communicate them.

LTW, I guess I am a thorn in your side right now but you implied it.

Don't imply things then, unless you are willing to stand by them.

I sympathise, you don't want to out yourself. On many discussions I have had on here, I have sometimes come close to compromising anonymity, so I do understand.

Dittany, she is now saying she said no such thing (about contributing to policy-making)

Because rape is a behaviour around the act of sexual intercourse. That's a simple statement of fact.

Yes on a psychological level its about control and power and has little to do with the physical act of sex itself but legally its a description of a specific behaviour. Just as all crime is.

I'm singling you out because you're incapable of having a discussion with out using strawmen and you use ad-hominem attacks on those you disagree with.

When I mentioned that the standard of debate on this forum is very very poor - you were someone I was specifically thinking of.

Anyway, enough. I have to go in to work tomorrow and find ways of trivialising more crime against women so I'm off to bed.