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?

Exactly ISNT. There should be a picture of a man there, driving the cab, to show that rape is about the rapist, the perpetrator, the person who makes the decision to committ this disgusting crime.
I'D go so far as to say that the poster makes out that rape is all about women. A sort of "woman's problem".

Yes. Like menstruation. Nothing to do with men. A bit icky to talk about and best brushed under the carpet.

Here's an example of a poster aimed at the criminals

So we do it for other crimes, why not rape?

So what about "stranger danger" campaigns. By telling kids not to go off with strangers rather than saying "paedophiled: don't snatch kids", are we telling them it's their own fault if they are targeted by paedophiles?

Paedophiles are not the only people who snatch kids.

Plus the idea for children is, do not go off with strangers, full stop. If a child does go off with a stranger, does everyone berate the stupid child and say they brought it on themselves if something bad happens?

Do we really think that grown women who have grown up in our society need to be told even more about all of the activities that they should avoid? And the message is things that TBH most women can't avoid anyway - going out after dark, being alone with men, that sort of thing.

I have still not seen any stats to back up the idea that illegal minicabs are more dangerous for women than other modes of transport. Like others have said, it's an advert.

maybe better to draw an anaology to an advert showing a child beign attacked, with an advert for a tracking microchip underneath.

Stranger danger is an incomplete picture as well though. Most abuse happens in the home, so by concentrating on the "stranger" aspect, children who are being abused are not given the means to maybe tell someone/reaise what is happening as thei attacker doesn't fit the "stranger" idea.

Ditto rape - most happens with people that the victim knows but there are no campaigns to tell anyone that - it's all stuff about not walking home after dark or getting into cabs on your own - activites that are relatively safe.

All it does is keep people perpetually scared, and not actually stop people being attacked.

let's face it, if a man is so intent on rape that he goes around the streets pretending to be a cab, then if victims are denied to him that way, he will simply find another ruse.

As long as there are men out there who are predatory rapists, then women are not going to be safe, no matter what "safety behaviours" they employ.

Yes, a child is far more likely to be abused physically, sexually, emotionally or murdered by a member of its family. So that was a good example, TheBride, of how campaigns can steer attention away from the real issues.

It's important a child knows not to go with strangers but that's it: nothing more, nothing less.

This stranger danger business actually demonizes all men, good men included. There was a mumsnetter who said she came accross a man in a park who'd found a lost child and he told her to please take the child off his hands in case someone found him with her and thought he'd taken her and was a paedo. The stranger danger hype means a good man might be frightened to look after a lost child in case he's accused of being a paedo, but in fact the child's father is more likely to sexually abuse her than a stranger.

Stranger danger is all part of the culture of fear, I think, and again it's mostly directed towards little girls, even though boys are quite likely to be abducted too.