Can we do anything about this?

[tethersend]

Knowing the power of MN, I am sick of walking past this poster every day, and wonder if there is anything we can do about it?

Or is it just me?

I think that some of you will not know what they are referring to as "unbooked minicabs".

The place I have seen them is in the evenings/late at night in London. Outside all the popular bars/clubs etc.

Men in beaten up old cars which are neither taxis/cabs/mini-cabs or anything apart from a bloke with a car (usually looking very unroadworth, possibly not insured and working for cash in hand).

The fact that husbands and partners are most likely to rape women can be the subject of someone else's poster campaign surely?

TFL are looking to raise awareness of safer transport in London - hence the text service to find a legitimate minicab or taxi.

dittany - "campaigns to stop men raping women"? Please.

Poster campaigns don't stop criminals.

Dittany, do you really think such campaigns would have any effect?

not blaming - its warning.

Riven - dittany thinks that poster campaigns will turn men into saints

Well...
I can sympathise with those saying that the message of the poster is valid - licensed cabs are safer. But then, it is blaming women as there aren't any equivalent posters with male victims.
So, I was thinking, maybe one could deface a poster in such a way as to make the victim male...
So, how to do that? Maybe a football sticker? Lots of them about with the world cup getting going.
What do we think?

Thats a bit harsh dittany, I'd say it's more like the London Cab office campaign to frighten people away from there rivals.

You won't be happy until men have been banished from the face of the earth, dittany, will you?

And who will you blame for your shortcomings then, I wonder?

There is no guarantee that getting a black cab will keep you safe:

black cab rapist

And can't you even contemplate the good sense in warning women of the dangers of rapists until such day as you have banished them all from the face of the earth, dittany?

"You take sensible steps while you wait for utopia."

Love it, Riven

Dittany, if you have a teenage daughter, will you deliberately NOT warn her about unbooked minicabs... walking home alone at night ... leaving her drink unattended ... etc? On the grounds that to warn her about these things would be continuing with the victim-blaming mindset...?

The sad fact is that there are going to be rapists, muggers, whatever out there. We should obviously go after them. But AT THE SAME TIME we should also give them fewer opportunities.

Cross posted with Riven who puts my point much more succinctly

I agree. This is a horrible campaign.

I rather like this, which was circulated on FB a while ago:

How to Avoid Rape

MEN! Don?t drink and rape. Many rapes happen when the rapist is under the influence of alcohol. Don?t let it happen to you.

That girl at the bar in the tight dress?
Remember, she?s not giving an invitation to rape.

Confused about consent? It?s easy! Just remember, 'No' means NO whether said before or during intercourse.

Make a stand this Saturday night. Don't turn her into a crime statistic. Don't rape.

"Whats wrong with warning women about risky situations?"

What's wrong with it, is that the so called risky situations are actually statistically safer than the real risky situations. Being accompanied home by a male friend, for example, is far more dangerous than walking home alone. But we are all told that the latter situation is a big risk and if we get raped it's our fault because we took that risk, and the former situation is safe and if we get raped it wasn't really rape because he says we consented and in his word against our's, his is worth more.

Do you believe the drivel you just wrote, HerBeatitude?

Do you not believe official statistics Anna?

What bit of saying that a woman is more likely to be raped by a man who knows her than a stranger, is drivel?