WTAF is wrong with West Yorkshire Police?

[Bluestitch]

Don't know if anybody has posted this already, lovely bit of victim blaming there. I'm not even surprised anymore.

mobile.twitter.com/Jessicae13Eaton/status/1105821309701894145

The stats do say that women and girls are more likely to be raped in their own homes than anywhere else. Nearly 40% of women are raped in their own homes, 60% are raped elsewhere.

As a single location, women's own homes are the most likely location for rapes to take place. But over 60% take place outside the home. So a rape is more likely to take place outside the home than in it.

Thanks lang. It's not the exact article, but it's similar.

It certainly shows how communication changes the narrative considerably.

A woman was hit, is the passive way of talking. And the article says

"... it’s a tool used by the powerful to conceal unpalatable truths and manipulate public opinion."

"The feminist argument that passives are used to conceal men’s responsibility for violence against women"

Another example is a judge summing up in a court case. He says

"There was advantage taken of a situation that presented itself."

The reality is

"This statement was made in the judgment on a case where a ten year-old girl had been sexually assaulted by a stranger in her home. The ‘situation’, in other words, was the presence of a child in her own bedroom, and it did not magically ‘present itself’, it was engineered by the defendant. A jury had found the defendant guilty, but the judge chose to minimize the seriousness of his offence by describing it in a way that implied he had no agency at all–as if he merely reacted, as anyone might, to the circumstances in which he (inexplicably) found himself."

People reading the poster in the OP, will swiftly say, no of course women aren't to blame for their own rape. Because they know that, and they don't think the poster is actually saying that.

But they still agree with the poster.

Because it sounds like common sense.

But it's doing nothing to change the situation. Nothing to alter the statistics, nothing to identify the problem, and no one is held accountable.

This is the narrative that needs to change. Male violence needs to be identified and dealt with.

Using a passive narrative that tells women to avoid it, is part of the problem.

Using a passive narrative that tells women to avoid it, is part of the problem.

^ absolutely this.

So instead of saying' the price you pay could be rape', something like 'the man who's buying the drinks might be a rapist'?

Maybe we should be even more honest with our young women, and say "He is probably a rapist". We all know women who have been sexually assaulted and raped, men who rape are the NORM, not the exception.

Society refuses to let anything get in the way of a man's entitlement to stick his dick in someone.

I don't think 'Party animals' are less likely to get raped than women who stay home with male friends or partners. is true at all.

I mean I agree with the general sentiment, but 'party animals' are at more risk or rape than people who stay home.

I don't think the statement 'Party animals' are less likely to get raped than women who stay home with male friends or partners. is true at all.

'party animals' are at more risk of rape than people who stay home.

I want to see the poster saying, “Boys, Men, if you spike someone’s drink and/or if they are drunk or high then they CANNOT consent and you are guilty of sexual assault and/or rape if you touch them inappropriately. The price you could pay is a prison sentence and an entry on the sex offenders register.”

I 100% agree with this. It would be so reassuring to know that WYP take violence against women seriously and intend to do something about it. Unfortunately, all the evidence we've had so far about WYP (Jimmy Savile, grooming gangs etc) is that they don't take violence against women in the slightest bit seriously. And that in fact they are more interested in pursuing women who have said the "wrong" thing on Twitter than they are against investigating violence, threatened or actual, against women.

I know others have made the point that women are more likely to be raped by husbands, boyfriends, ex-partners, 'friends' and colleagues than they are by strangers. This is true. But we also know that we can't reasonably tell women to not get married, not to work with men and so on. So the police avoid the most common causes of rape altogether because it's too difficult for them to deal with.

Instead they design a poster warning of stranger danger, presumably imagining that if women follow its advice, they will be safe. They won't, of course. Because rapists will find a way. Worse than that, the poster doesn't give women useful alternative advice. If you can't accept a lift from a man, what can you do? Take a taxi? We know lots of women who have been raped by taxi drivers. Take a bus home? We know that women have been raped walking home from the bus stop. Walk home? We know how that ends.

Finally, the poster is utterly disingenuous. It seems to be telling women that men can't be trusted - that the man who buys you a drink could be a rapist. That the man who offers to walk you home, or give you a lift, could be a rapist. Yet we all know that when feminists say that any man should be treated as a potential rapist we are called man-haters. In essence, you're damned if you do trust men and damned if you don't.

I mean I agree with the general sentiment, but 'party animals' are at more risk or rape than people who stay home.

Only if they're home alone.

Yet we all know that when feminists say that any man should be treated as a potential rapist we are called man-haters

Yes they are, on another thread yesterday and still going today, that is what is happening

Apparently I hate men because I don’t let one do my smear test...

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3531272-man-doing-my-pedicure?msgid=85576502#85576502

We all know women who have been sexually assaulted and raped, men who rape are the NORM, not the exception.

And according to the statistics that Orchid posted earlier, only 13% of rapes are committed by strangers. The most dangerous people in this respect are people women know. Partners, ex-partners, family members, friends, neighbours, colleagues...

The poster doesn't make this clear - stuff about not going back to the house of someone you don't know is rubbish. It's more likely to be a friend or colleague asking you back who rapes you.

It is a response to grooming. Should have been more clear.

The poster doesn't make this clear - stuff about not going back to the house of someone you don't know is rubbish. It's more likely to be a friend or colleague asking you back who rapes you.

That wasn't clear. Obviously a stranger might as well, but they're not the only people who are a danger.

It is a response to grooming.

Is it? have WYP said that?

From reading reactions to it online, most people are viewing it as victim blaming and also that they will be less likely to report to WYP due to the message they are sending. Whatever message they were aiming for, it isn't working. They need to withdraw it, apologise and think again.

Yet we all know that when feminists say that any man should be treated as a potential rapist we are called man-haters

But that is exactly what this poster is saying, although it is saying that strange men who invite you to parties are potential rapists.

Telling women to avoid pursuing relationships with men is certainly one route to go down, but according to the logic expressed here that is victim blaming.

How do women take responsibility for being raped? Which bits are their responsibility?

I’ve invited some friends round for free food and drink at the weekend. If I rape one of them is it partly their responsibility for accepting my hospitality?

Women aren't responsible for what men do.

Knowing they do it, and risk assessing is obvious.

But it's a 'swimming upstream in order to stay still' reaction.

The people doing the crime are the ones who need to be targeted. Not the victims.

But there seems to be a collective reluctance. We all know that NAMALT is a highly prevalent, knee-jerk reaction from most men, and indeed a lot of women.

And maybe that's the reason why people are scared to say anything.

Pointing out that this poster is misdirected, is a positive, necessary move.

Wording is dodgy, but overall I dont really see the issue. Its telling people to remain vigilant. Of course women should not HAVE to worry about stuff like this, same as they should be able to wear what they want, get blind drunk if they want to, but we don't live in that world. Rapists are everywhere,n just looking for an opportunity.

I agree the fault is always on the rapists side, obviously.

I would see it sas victim blaming if it was perhaps' 50k women were raped last yar because they got in a car with a stranger' as thats putting the blame in the wrong place, but I think this is different.

WYP are a joke though.

But that is exactly what this poster is saying, although it is saying that strange men who invite you to parties are potential rapists.

And indeed they are. The poster neglects to mention that your work colleague, your schoolteacher, your male friend, your dad, your step-dad, your brother, your boyfriend, your husband are also all potential rapists. If it had done that, it would have covered all the bases.

As it is, it singles out one potential risk of rape, and therefore makes it look as if rape is something women can avoid by paying attention that one risk. In that, it is quite quite wrong.

It's not so much about the actual concept of whether they are blaming the victim.

It's far more subtle than that.

It's the publicising of rape as something that is within the remit of women.

It's always publicised this way.

It needs to change.

For instance, imagine an advert with a dad waving goodbye to both his kids who were off on a night on the razz.

He waves his daughter off, but turns round to his son and says remember son, keep your hands to yourself.

What would you think?

I almost guarantee you'd be a bit shocked.

Because that narrative, the accurate one, is not being told.

tell young girls they can go to random house parties and drink and accept free drugs and feel totally safe

Haha! This basically describes my 20’s and it was glorious. Miss spent youth I don’t regret for a second. It never occurred to me that I might be partly responsible had I been raped.

It didn’t occur to me that I might be responsible for being sexually assaulted by an older relative at a family birthday party either. Perhaps WYP should issue warnings about the dangers of family too? It is statistically way more risky than stranger danger after all.

Otherwise it does rather look like they are highlighting the fact that you’re female and out having fun that is the ‘risky’ element.

If your girlfriend say no to anal and you go ahead, you're a rapist.
If the woman you're fucking is too drunk to know what day it is, you're a rapist.
If you spike a woman's drink to make her compliant, you're a rapist.
If the woman you're mounting is asleep, you're a rapist.

Let's have posters for every day rape.

We know drunk and sober women get raped.
We know women fully covered and women in skimpy clothes get raped.
There is no checklist to avoid rape. Well maybe moving to an island with no make inhabitants.

Yeah, getting to the stage now when someone says that because I don't prioritize men, I hate men, I won't be responding with "Oh no, some of them are lovely." I'll be saying "If I did, it wouldn't be an unreasonable response to a large group of bullies who feel entitled to orgasms on demand."

If your girlfriend say no to anal and you go ahead, you're a rapist.
If the woman you're fucking is too drunk to know what day it is, you're a rapist.
If you spike a woman's drink to make her compliant, you're a rapist.
If the woman you're mounting is asleep, you're a rapist.

^this.

With a prediction of the consequences. If you do this, you will be on the sex offenders register for life, and the minimum sentence for these crimes is ...