To wonder if this is for real, and if so, what moron came up with it?! **Trigger warning**

[StoneTheFlamingCrows]

One in three reported rapes happen when the victim has been drinking

If this link is true I am ashamed to work for the nhs.

HaroldsBishop How could you get the core message of that poster across without it being construed as victim blaming?

What IS the core message? There isn't one that I can see. It all hinges on compelling women - not men - to curb their drinking, to "know your limits", on the basis that failure to do so could result in them being assaulted. It implies a causal relationship between drinking and being raped - a relationship that firstly doesn't exist, and secondly places a portion of the responsibility onto the victim and her actions.

There's no possible interpretation of that poster that would carry an acceptable, helpful and non-victim blaming message.

Because when the media attitude seems to be "she faked for it because she was wearing X, or drunk" it's not exactly helpful to print a poster showing a girl lying plastered on the floor banging in about a rape statistic.

Informatiom regarding personally safety applies to both genders.

Informatiom about how to drink responsibly is again relevant to men and women.

Rape also happens to men, why just have a woman on the poster.

And as a pp said, if the other 2 out of three happen when sober then why focus on being drunk

Faked?

Asked

And it could well lead people to believe that they are in fact safer because they stayed relatively sober and ignores the fact that not all attacks are random and she could have been watched for days and if it hadn't been on the way home from the pub it may well have been some other time and the drinking or not was irrelevant.

She or he

I will certainly tell my daughter she is more vulnerable to all kinds of things when she's drunk, from rape to falling over or losing her purse or phone.

It's just sensible to do so.

And if rape cases dropped by a third because women were more careful, how wouldn't that be a good thing?

And if rape cases dropped by a third because women were more careful, how wouldn't that be a good thing?

ARGH! This is precisely the sort of attitude that is perpetuated by this posters and others like it.

Rape statistics would not decline "because women were more careful".

Rapes do not happen because women are careless.

Rapes happen because rapists decide to rape.

Rapes do not happen because women are careless

this ^^^ 100 times this

Because if someone's going to rape you they are capable of it regardless of what state the man or woman is in. That doesn't change because someone is sober.

And so, you only have one drink to stay "safe"?

Takes one drink and one arse hole inclined to spike it!

Most people seem to be always on the extreme on this issue, there never seems to be middle ground.

We all do a thousand things a day to be cautious and try and prevent bad things happening to us. It seems sensible to advise both women and men to not get out of their face drunk, stay with friends etc.

To be clear that poster in the OP isn't doing that though in my opinion.

Just to take another angle: a fictitious bloke - any bloke, perfectly ordinary, might take him to meet your gran - this Bloke is sitting in a fictitious bar. A woman enters, wearing a short skirt, low cut top and proceeds to down a dozen shots of tequila, whilst smiling and having fun with her friends.

This perfectly ordinary Bloke is not suddenly induced to become a rapist and attack her as a result of her clothing, alcohol consumption, or conduct.

Also in the bar, is a Rapist. He's started out his night already knowing he will force himself on someone that night. Does he make a beeline for the drunk woman? Perhaps. He may just as easily go for the quiet, lemonade-sipping woman dressed in jeans and t-shirt sitting in the same room.

It matters not to him; his decision to rape A woman was made independently.

The attire and behaviour of the women in this bar do not cause the rapist to want to rape any more than they compel the ordinary Bloke to morph into a predator. If the drunk woman IS attacked, it is not because she was drunk but because rapists rape.

Of course it's sensible to advise people on personal safety.
That can be done without the mention of specific crimes.

But rapes happen because the man or woman decides to do that.you wouldn't for instance print a poster that said "divorce your family and friends" because many rapes are just that, friends or family members.

Or "don't get married/stay single" because husbands and wives and partners rape their significant others too.

There's just no acknowledgement of that and shows a girl lying plastered. With a statistic implying that she would hae some how been safer without the drink which may well not be that case at all

I didn't say that rapes happened because women were careless.

A mugger decides he wants to take someone's mobile. Does he go for the man who's looking a bit wobbly, as though he can't focus, can't react, as a result of drinking (or taking drugs)? Or the man who's not drunk, looks as though he's alert?

What about posters in cars reminding you not to leave valuables in your car? Is that blaming victims of car crime too? Or when the police warm young people not to carry their mobile phone conspicuously?

Isn't it just good sense?

If a rapist has decided s/he is going to, he is going to.

Being sober may make one potential victim safer, however they will go and find someone else who may be just as vulnerable in a different way. Smaller, younger,ill, disabled, have LD, elderly etc.

It doesn't stop it, it just potentially pushes it Onto another group of people.

How will that alter any statistics. Because it's not solving the issue of how to get them off the streets or correcting their behaviour.

But there are some places in the world where simply being female in public is enough for you to be 'putting yourself at risk'. I've lived in two of them.

This poster and the thinking it endorses worry me, because there's no natural endpoint.

Might get raped? Stay sober. In fact, cover up too. Maybe to be totally safe, ypu should stay home or only go out with a male guardian. If you fail to follow tjis advice, the attack will be your own fault.

Victims of car crime don't often get told they caused their own attack, I find. I also feel it's bloody offensive to liken the aggressive invasion of my body to leaving a fucking satnav on display.

So you're saying for crimes like rape and worse, these type of posters are victim blaming - but if the crime is only something like theft it becomes helpful advice? Not sure I follow that logic.

Some strong feelings here, it's (rightly) a very emotive subject.

Yes of course 100% of rapes are caused by the rapist and the victim is always innocent regardless of their clothing etc. No question. But until rape has been made history it is just sensible to reduce one's chances of being a victim.

When standing at a pedestrian crossing I always wait until the traffic stops before I walk across. I'd rather avoid being knocked down than risk getting crushed while knowing that it was 100% the driver's fault.

I would rather avoid the dark alley to avoid a potential rape or mugging, rather than get into that situation and know that it was 100% the rapist's or mugger's fault.

And knowing that drinking affects my personal judgement, I will be very careful about how much I drink if it might mean that I forget to wait at that kerb or avoid that dark alley.

Playing devil's advocate for a minute - perhaps because there is a pre-existing victim blaming culture that is unique to the crime of rape, these posters should be more sensitive in broaching their advice?

Apparently this an old poster for a campaign run by the NHS back in 2006, doesn't a more recent campaign run on tv show a sober young man trying to stop his drunk self from raping a girl?

What about a petition calling for full life tariffs for rapists?

None of the text refers to women at all. Men get raped too!

And the picture could be a transsexual. Many assumptions being made by the OP imo.

Sallyingforth, very few rapes occur in dark alleys, statistically speaking.

So.... let me get this straight.

People are saying that rape is the same as being burgled, or your car being broken into, is that right? Being raped is, to these people the same as having your handbag snatched?

So, if your husband rapes you, which statistics suggest is among the most likely people to do that, it's the same as him taking money out of your purse, is it?

No matter how many threads about rape we have, we will always have the rape myths floating about.

Windchime... lovely 'what about the menz there', I stand in awe of your astounding whataboutery.