To think that West Mercia Police need to take this poster off their website

[DuelingFanjo]

here

they have already apologised for another poster story but the poster on their site is, in my opinion, also pretty offensive.

"Alcohol features in two thirds of all rapes, we want people to enjoy the party season and let their hair down without letting their guard down"

where are their campaigns aimed at men or aimed at taking women seriously?

"DF, not that one is worse than the other. The circumstances in which the victim is raped are different"

If one is not worse than the other, then why do the circumstances matter?

"No your breasts aren't the problem. You are saying that, no-one else is."

no no, it wasn't me who introduced the breast, it was Sally who said "Would you walk down the street at night with your purse sticking out of a pocket, on the basis that you should be able to do so without a thief snatching it? No, you keep it tucked out of sight. On the same basis it seems sensible not to walk down the same street with your judgment impaired by alcohol and your tits hanging out."

I was asking if it would make if I was raped while sober but with my 'tits hanging out'? The suggestion was that it's not ok to walk about with your purse on show and not expect to have it stolen and so therefore not ok to walk about with your tits hanging out while drunk. I really just wanted to know if that meant Sally thought it would be better if I was sober but still had my tits hanging out or would it be pretty much the same? ie I would still bear some responsibility if I were raped because I had my tits hanging out, but even more responsibility if I was also drunk... now I see that if I was drunk, out at night, walking home and had my tits hanging out then my % of responsibility for rape increases.

or that's the impression I am getting from the posts here. Like some kind of sliding scale of responsibility that starts at 1. 'daring to be female' and ends at 100. 'being in the presence of a rapist (how very dare I)!

Because one may be more preventable than the other?

"Typically you finish work at 17:00 and it's daylight. It's not like you'll be raped in broad daylight where everyone is watching now is it? At 2:00 it's usually very quiet. See where i'm going with this? "

I think I see where you are going - you are heading towards a society where women stay indoors after dark? A curfew?

Because no one ever gets raped in broad daylight do they?

DF. I have seen many episodes of Crimewatch and read many stories in papers about rape. They very very rarely happen outside in broad daylight with people around... in fact I never even known of such a story

'Because one may be more preventable than the other? '

are you asking?

Because you are now saying that women can prevent themselves from being raped?

sigh

That'd mean I'd have to leave uni, Dueling... I don't finish until seven some days.

"DF. I have seen many episodes of Crimewatch and read many stories in papers about rape. They very very rarely happen outside in broad daylight with people around... in fact I never even known of such a story"

Oh right, in that case I must bow to your superior knowledge on this, I really hadn't realised I was in conversation with such a knowledgable and learned person. My bad.

I had to turn the radio off this morning as they had a phone in about this - there were several woman who thought if a woman gets drunk then she is making herself vulnerable for rape

There was one man who phoned in and said he took a girl for a date and she had a lot to drink, he said he would make sure she got safely home and when they arrived he was asked in - he refused, she offered him wine and he refused saying he couldn't drink and drive, so she offered him a sofa for the night. He refused as he said he wasn't sure what would happen and as she had had a drink this was a problem to him as he wouldn't know whether it was right or not or whether she had consented or not - so he said NO he was going home to his own bed in his own home.

Ok DF. I guess in your world rapes happen in broad daylight in front of hundreds of people every day. How silly of me

Meh, i get what Sally is trying to say. You should be able to walk about with your purse hanging out and not get mugged. And if you were mugged it would be entirely the fault of the mugger. You would, as victim, be entirely innocent. But by hanging your purse out your pocket you may have unintentionally made yourself more appealing to the mugger and increased your chances of said mugger choosing you to rob. Nothing to blame the victim for though.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8679124.stm

A case locally to me mame. So now you have heard of one. What exactly should this teenage girl have done, to avoid being raped in broad daylight, right next to a hospital, in a busy area at a busy time of day?

ivykaty that is exactly what men should do. It's a shame so few seem to think that way.

Yeh... an underpass. Where there's not many people around or hundreds watching

mame11

I am hoping someone else will come along and explain why you are so so wrong because I am curently too gobsmacked to put into words how I feel about attitudes like yours.

I am shocked, I probably shouldn't be. I KNOW there are rape myths out there and that people have fallen for them hook-line-sinker but it's just gutting to see them before me, on Mumsnet, in black and white.

I fear that I will actually start to rant a bit to much and resort to name calling so I'll hold back and just hope something someone else puts far more eloquently will sink in.

An underpass next to a hospital, in a busy pedestrian area (this town is full of underpasses btw, literally the width of the road. It's not an isolated area at all).

OptimisticPessimist - that is what the poster should be about

Don't be a rapist

One woman said these woman should get a taxi home. My mate was raped in a taxi when she was sober - so how does that work?

well obviously the rapist planned it. There was seemingly no one going through the underpass at the time either

So, your advice, Mame, would be for women to make sure they're never alone with men, ever. Not even in passing.

I never said that Mildew

so what IS your advice mame11?
if you were writing a guide on 'how not to get raped' what would it contain?

I mean, as far as I can see from your comments, mame, advice would be for women to avoid being out of the public eye whilst a man was about.

Mame - well of course any rapist plans to rape

Myth Do not go out alone at any time. Women are most likely to be raped outside, in dark alleyways late at night. This is the best way for a woman to protect herself.

Fact The suggestion of avoiding walking alone, especially at night is a common suggestion to avoiding sexual assault. However, only 9% of rapes are committed by 'strangers'. Women are raped in their homes and in their work places where they are less likely to be believed and even less likely to report. This myth can control movements and restricts freedom. This can feel like women are living under a 'curfew' and that it is a woman's responsibility to be either in or out at certain times. More than 80% of rapes are committed by known men.

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