Eamonn Holmes is a bit of a know isnt he

[AVoidkaTheKillerZombies]

here

Asking a rape victim why she didnt take a taxi.

Knob!

Oh FFS.
I'm a divorced mum, bringing up my son alone.
He doesn't stand a fucking chance does he?
All men are inherently evil or rapists.
A middle aged dad said on tv, why didn't you get a taxi, rather than walk alone.
That was it.
I'm leaving this thread now.

Safer? And if your house was the one her rapist had parked his car outside? Or has an alley by it? Or you live in a flat so have to walk to the block and use the elevator?

So does the fact a woman is a woman exempt her or somehow entitle her to be at such a level that she from taking reasonable precautions?

Don't get me wrong, rape is a heinous crime, I don't for a second believe this woman was in any way to blame for not taking a taxi, but I also don't believe that Holmes actually thought she was to blame.

And let's contextualise with the emphasis on the 11 year sentence the scumbag got for his crime. If that's not society standing up and saying exactly who was to blame I don't know what is. But that gets lost against some piffling comment from a guy who was meaning well and has been called all names under the sun?

Also confused as to why a couple of posters on this thread are saying "ooh feminists all hate men" - where does it say that on here? I see lots of posts saying that eamonn holmes said teh wrong thing - he's not "all men" though is he (pray god).

Be exempt from (taking reasonable precautions-para one. Sorry.)

So he'll be out in 5.5 years?

I don't think that is long enough for a serial rapist of this type, TBH.

Pan, again... You're a regular(ish) in FSWR... You should have heard of Jon Worboys, there. I'm also suprised to hear this attitude coming from you.

Glitterkitten, I do have a son. I also teach him respect of women. I've never referred to men as stupid, or whatever you said upthread. I have a hoard of male friends who'd come down on me like a ton of bricks if I did. They're aware I'm a feminist. They're a damn sight more respectful of that than you are. They'd call me up on any man hating. They've never heard any coming from me.

All people should take reasonable precautions. Men, women, young people, old people, everyone.

Women should not be given different specific and endless advice and then have it held against them if they do not follow it.

Also it is not a "reasonable precaution" to order a cab to drive you two streets. That is not a reasonable or normal thing to do, and I don't think that anyone (including eamonn) should have suggested she was remiss in not doing so.

Sardine perhaps because many posters reading this thread will also be familiar with another recent thread in which there was a comment that "all men are potential rapists"

That attitude towards men combined with the total move away from the bigger picture in this thread indicates a less than loving attitude to men.

Women who get cabs from 2 roads away, are usually thought of as paranoid, man-hating loons who see rapists everywhere. They get criticised for being wusses. And they spend half their income on taxis.

You know what, if he wanted to ask her why she didn't avoid rape more effectively, I guess it wouldn't have occurred to him to say: "why weren't you carrying a knife, so you could stab a potential rapist?"

That would be slightly more empowering than taking a taxi, wouldn't it? And cheaper. But I don't suppose it would occur to Mr Holmes and there would be absolute howls of outrage from people saying he was encouraging knife crime, rather than advocating that women should trammel their lives.

I've lost count of the scary cab rides I've had. Guess what, some cab drivers are rapists. Getting a cab won't protect you from rape, if your driver is a rapist. Better to walk and take a knife, and support the campaigns to stop victim blaming and to place the blame for rape where it belongs - with rapists.

Sardine - yes, my male chaperone tends to work away a lot and can't supervise me when I am on the loose with my bins at midnight. I will get on to the local taxi rank about it right now.

I wonder how they feel at Eamonn's decision to promote their drivers to the role of rape prevention officers?

And yes, the council. It started with the scrapping of weekly bin collections and the introduction of various bags and boxes.

That lead to an increase in complaints about litter, because the bags and boxes are shit and blow away or blow over and scatter rubbish all over the streets.

So they decided to fine people for putting the bins, bags and boxes out any earlier than seven hours in advance of the collection time.

This has made no difference to the litter situation whatsoever but has lead to an increase in people in nightwear dragging things about outside in the early hours.

Wearing some of said nightwear is also perhaps an incitement to be raped in Victim Blame Universe, but there you go.

Squeaky, I lived with one of my rapists for four years. How was I supposed to protect myself against that?

The other, my mother suggested we stayed with whilst she was on holiday, as she thought we'd be safer there.

Sorry, was I supposed to lock myself in a box?

Glitterkitten, well done for taking that quote out of context. It was also saying taht all human beings are potential murderers, all motorists are potential drink drivers, all parents are potential child abusers, etc.

But ignore that bit won't you, because that doesn't help your implication that MN is peopled by man-hating loons.

What other thread?
How do you expect people to understand your posts if you are referencing things that are not even on this thread?

That business about men thinking all women are whores or whatever it was - it was a horrible post - and I don't understand at all how feeling for a woman who has been raped and interviewed bizarrely equates to men thinking all women are whores (or whatever it was). It seemed like a really incongruous rant.

The bigger picture is the eleven year sentence, and the fact that quite frankly, "outrage" is being applied when it's really not necessary.

Helvetica - ok. If your belief is that it is statistically just as safe to walk home alone than get a cab, then I'm not going to try to argue past that. Yes, sexual assaults happen regulalry and massively outside of these 'evening/safe scenarios' - we all konw that - but that doesn't knockdown the presumption of it being safer to take a cab than walk.

it could have been worse - he could have sailed into the area of what she was wearing. That would have been victim-blaming?

He will be out in 5.5 years.

I do not think that is very long for a serial rapist of this type. I really don't.

80% of women know the man who raped them. Trying to act as though there are a handful of evil men responsible for all the rapes and sexual assaults that occur and suggesting it's women's responsibility to protect themselves from these men who lurk in alleyways ignores the fact that most women who have been raped are raped by a botfriend, a husband, a friend.

If you pulled your head out of the sand for a moment you might realise that the women on here have sons, partners and husbands. They don't hate men. It's easy for you to dismiss them as man haters though isn't it.

Who do you think all the rapists are? Do you think they have some special brand and gather after dark? They're fathers, sons, husbands, taxi drivers, solicitors, police officers, newsagents, bus drivers, plumbers, doctors, accountants etc The only way to tell who they are is when they rape someone.

I'm not sure either. My life experience tells me that walking is safer than cabs as well.

I like men. I just don't like men that behave the way he did towards a young woman on national television. As has been said, advice would have been in advance of the fact, or perhaps mentioning it once. His repeated pressing of the fact came across as aggressive, which in itself was wrong.

My rapist was well known to me. He was my boyfriend of nearly a year, with whom I had had consensual sex many times. How do you 'advise' someone protect themselves against that?