This is not an invitation to rape me

Check out the campaign in Scotland organised by the Scottish Government and Rape Crisis Scotland based on a campaign from the States called THIS IS NOT AN INVITATION TO RAPE ME.

Do the quiz on the web page.

Sarah Palin and rape victims

I have avoided posting on Palin as there are lots of other good posts covering just how bloody awful her politics are . Check out here, here and here for starters.

I'll just add something I found via Feministing which illustrates , as if we didn't know from the Thatcher experience, that purely being female does not mean a politician will act in the interests of other women . Op-Edna explains :

Of all of the things I’ve learned about Sarah Palin in the last week and a half, this has got to be the most disturbing. While Sarah Palin was serving as the Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, the city charged victims of sexual assault between $300 and $1200 for their own rape kits. A rape kit is a sexual assault forensic evidence kit, used to collect DNA that can be used in criminal proceedings to assist in the conviction of those who commit sex crimes. The kit is performed as soon as possible after a sexual assault or attack has been committed. It is usually humiliating and uncomfortable for the victim–imagine enduring that and then paying $1200 just so that the criminal who assaulted you might be caught.

This was overturned by the Democratic Mayor in 2000 . I'll add what was said at the time as it shows a pretty callous attitude to the victims of rape from the police. From Fontiersman , via Op-Edna :

ANCHORAGE - Gov. Tony Knowles recently signed legislation protecting victims of sexual assault from being billed for tests to collect evidence of the crime, but one local police chief said the new law will further burden taxpayers.
...........

The new law makes it illegal for any law enforcement agency to bill victims or victims insurance companies for the costs of examinations that take place to collect evidence of a sexual assault or determine if a sexual assault did occur.

We would never bill the victim of a burglary for fingerprinting and photographing the crime scene, or for the cost of gathering other evidence, Knowles said. Nor should we bill rape victims just because the crime scene happens to be their bodies.
While the Alaska State Troopers and most municipal police agencies have covered the cost of exams, which cost between $300 to $1,200 apiece, the Wasilla police department does charge the victims of sexual assault for the tests.
Wasilla Police Chief Charlie Fannon does not agree with the new legislation, saying the law will require the city and communities to come up with more funds to cover the costs of the forensic exams.

Rape victims as a 'burden' on taxpayers ?? Have very selfish of them to go get themselves attacked.

Woman's Drinking Not To Blame For Rape

Good news. A woman has successfully challenged a decision by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority to cut her compensation for being raped on the grounds that she had been drinking beforehand. The CICA admits that it probably made the same 'mistake' (read: sexist victim-blame) in 14 other cases, and will now review its practice on this issue.

The compensation payout concerned was a mere £11,000, hardly a fortune especially compared with the £4.5m paid to Ben Collett, whose football career was terminated by a nasty tackle.

Nearly three years ago, I blogged about the tendency to blame women who have been drinking for being assaulted. Such nasty excusing of the perpetrator, and of the system that endorses him, is undoubtedly still with us. But at least this victory for one woman may have made a dent in it.

Now, let's see ... How about the CICA reviewing its view that a mother who takes her kids out on fireworks night should expect to lose an eye?!

BNP candidate and his views on women and rape

Seems the "respectable face" of the BNP has slipped to show some of their real views on women .

Nick Eriksen, the BNP's London organiser and the second-highest candidate on its list for the Assembly, has been identified as the author of "Sir John Bull," a far-Right blog which spews hatred and abuse against women.

As The Evening Standard report :

On 24 August 2005, Mr Eriksen wrote: "I've never understood why so many men have allowed themselves to be brainwashed by the feminazi myth machine into believing that rape is such a serious crime ... Rape is simply sex. Women enjoy sex, so rape cannot be such a terrible physical ordeal.

"To suggest that rape, when conducted without violence, is a serious crime is like suggesting that forcefeeding a woman chocolate cake is a heinous offence. A woman would be more inconvenienced by having her handbag snatched.

"The demonisation of rape is all part of the feminazi desire to obtain power and mastery over men. Men who go along with the rape myth are either morons or traitors."

On 5 November 2005, in an item entitled "Give her a slap!," Mr Eriksen approvingly quoted Noel Coward as saying: "Some women are like gongs - they need to be struck regularly." On 8 November, he claimed that "the vast majority of domestic [assaults] are initiated by the woman." Mr Eriksen also wrote on 24 November 2005 that mothers "should never go out to work" and described career women as "unnatural and vile... it is a strange kind of woman who would want to invest [her] energies into her job rather than into a man."

Eleven of the 25 Assembly members are elected on a London-wide basis using a form of proportional representation. The BNP is likely to win at least one of these seats, for which it needs around five per cent of the vote, and has strong hopes of winning a second, for which it needs around seven to eight per cent. If the BNP does win two seats, one of them will go to Mr Eriksen and one to London party leader Richard Barnbrook

The Standard identified the author of the blog :

The author of the Sir John Bull blog, which stopped publication last autumn, is not identified on the website itself. But the Standard established that it is Mr Eriksen by posing as a BNP sympathiser and sending a message to the site's contact email address, johnbull@englandmail.com.

Within two days, Mr Eriksen replied, signing his name, giving Mr Barnbrook's contact number and saying: "As for your kind comments about the blog, I may well restart this after the elections - we shall see what happens! All the best, Nick."

Once caught out he blustered a bit about being provocative but still let slip he does not really take rape seriously:

Contacted by the Standard last night, Mr Eriksen admitted the blog postings were written by him, but said they were "deliberately provocative" in order to stimulate debate.

"I was trying to make the point that there are two kinds of rape," he said. "There is stranger rape and there is so-called rape by somebody the woman knows. I was raising an important issue in a provocative way to allow people to make up their own minds."

Mr Eriksen insisted that he "did not condone violence in any way," but was "trying to highlight the fact that violence against men is unacceptable." He said: "It's typical of the media to distort what the BNP say."

But sexual violence against women is if they know their attacker ??

And this man could get elected.

Hat tip The F Word.

Rape and the blaming of women

I have just read a report of a young woman who killed herself because she felt to blame for being raped:

Harriet McCormick, 20, was "vivacious and happy" until she was raped in a car park in Cardiff city centre during a night out with friends, her mother Cheryl told an inquest at the city's coroner's court.

She developed depression and twice took paracetamol overdoses.

She died after throwing herself off a footbridge on to the M4 motorway at Radyr, Cardiff, shortly after midnight on August 26 last year.

Speaking after the inquest, Mrs McCormick said: "Harriet didn't report what happened to her because she blamed herself.

"We feel that if anything that happens to another young girl, please, please seek help straight away. Don't be afraid. Don't blame yourself.

"Talk to people, because people would be there. There is help available. Please, please come forward."

.....
Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Coroner Mary Hassell said the death was a "direct consequence" of the rape, and said what happened to Miss McCormick was "extraordinarily sad".

.....
Mrs McCormick, of Radyr, Cardiff, told the inquest: "She was beautiful on the inside, and she was beautiful on the outside. She was wonderful. She was a happy and vivacious, loving, caring girl."

She said her daughter was in Cardiff city centre for a friend's birthday in November 2006 when she was raped in a car park near the Creation nightclub by a man she had met earlier that night.

Miss McCormick, who had been in fancy dress as a policewoman for the evening, confided in her mother the following day, but did not tell police.

In a statement, one of her friends said Miss McCormick told her the pair had ended up in a car park after walking out of the club. She said: "They were talking about sex. She told him numerous times she didn't want sex with him."

The friend said Miss McCormick told her she didn't go to police because she couldn't remember what the man looked like.

Her mother, a nurse, said: "I think she felt dirty. She felt as if she'd been violated, which she had."

She added her daughter felt she had broken the "golden rule" agreed with friends - not to separate from the group on a night out.

Miss McCormick, who cut her arms and legs after the rape, was referred to a psychiatrist after her first overdose, and was making progress, her mother said.

.....
She (the coroner)added: "Harriet somehow blamed herself for the rape. This is one of the most devastating aspects of a rape, that not only can a woman be violated in such a terrible way, but that she can be made to feel it's her fault, and clearly nothing could be further from the truth."


Both the coroner and mother are right, its not a woman's fault for being raped . It is though more than just sad and tragic. The mother is right to say women should tell someone, but lets look at what happens when they do and what the attitudes are around women and rape.
In that context it is understandable that Harriet felt the way she did, there is a very clear message in the media that women have some responsibility . This impacts on the whole process of going to the police right through to the juries attitude and the likelihood of a conviction.

Its no wonder she felt to blame but women are not to blame.Men are perfectly capable of self control and the ability to understand a simple word such as no. We still have the woman being judged. Was she a bit drunk, dressed a bit 'provocatively', had a bit of 'history'. These are still judgements that are made. If women know the rapist then its see as 'less', in fact Cosmo came up with some crass term, 'grey' rape. WTF does that mean. It seems though that sometimes in the public mind, some rape is not really 'proper' rape.

In terms of support , there are real problems with what is on offer. Rape Crisis centres are closing.

A survey a little while back came up with this as regards attitudes :

A third of people believe a woman is partially or completely responsible for being raped if she has behaved flirtatiously, a survey suggests.
The Amnesty International poll of 1,000 people also found over 25% believe she is at least partly to blame if she has worn revealing clothing or been drunk.

And the director of public prosecutions told the BBC the report "highlights some areas of real concern".

"The idea that a third of our people think that if a woman flirts she has only herself to blame if she is raped is, I think, quite shocking," he said.

"These are jury trials. The jury is the community in the courtroom and it is reasonable to suppose the jury brings into the courtroom a lot of the attitudes we have been reading about."



Which is linked to the low reporting rates:

The number of recorded rapes of women in 2004/5 was 12,867 - up 4% on the year before - although police estimate that just 15% of rapes come to their attention. Only 6% of reported rapes result in a conviction.

Those figures are shocking. Many women cannot face the courtroom and who can blame them when at the end of it their attacker could walk free .

Another report highlights that police do not always follow up even when a woman has reported the crime :

Officers routinely fail to follow home office guidelines, said the joint report. Nearly one in three of the cases police recorded as "no crime" should have been properly investigated as rape.

Police made the decision to record "no crime" because the victim withdrew her complaint or because they felt she lacked credibility due to inconsistencies or factors such as alcohol consumption. But they should not have done so unless they had "verifiable information that no crime was committed", according to guidelines. The failures not only inflated police perceptions of the scale of false allegations, but led to a loss of information about perpetrators and risked undermining the victim's credibility if she made a later report of rape, the report said.

Further disincentives are the quality of the process that women go through when they do report :

Other problems included wide variations in the quality of medical examination services for victims, with some services outsourced to private companies recruiting doctors from abroad on short-term contracts. There were poor examination facilities, "unacceptable" delays, the taking of inappropriate samples and a lack of expertise.

In one case an elderly victim who had been raped and violently assaulted was forced to wait over six hours at the sexual assault referral centre. In another, when a child victim on holiday with her mother had still not been seen by a paediatrician after three days, the mother took her child home to London, where she made her own arrangements. "This level of delay is unacceptable and is a factor that is likely to contribute significantly to victims withdrawing their complaint before the investigation has properly commenced," said the report.

So whilst I feel this is very tragic I am also angry. The media is quick to talk of irresponsible women getting drunk and being in the 'wrong ' place . Its quick to talk of men whose lives are ruined by wrongful allegations, a tiny drop in the ocean compared to wrongful non convictions. The reality is not hundreds of women going through a horrendous criminal process to exact revenge, its women who do not report because of the barriers and the attitudes that prevail. Its the women who feel blame. And at its most tragic its women like Harriet who cannot live with those feelings

Cosmo on Rape Crisis centres

Cosmo mag has an important article this month about the closures of Rape Crisis centres in the UK. Though rather blindingly thoughtless and piss-poor they had a article recently on this new phenomenon called "grey rape", "a situation in which they [a woman] never intended to have sex, but wound up forced into it because until that point, they’d been a willing participant".

It seemed to me that the glossy was capitulating to the that old adage of "woman blaming". But also diminishing and denigrating rape by continuing the myths that are attached to it. So a woman, by definition of "grey rape", has been a little bit raped but not totally. Grrrrrr! Give me strength!!!! Rape is rape. No means no!

Anyway, less of my ire and frothing at the mouth at right-wing Cosmo's insentivity, contradictory messages and rank stupidity (but hey, what can I expect at a glossy that champions the multiple orgasms, swanky top-notch jobs in the city...none of that low paid shit, latest skin care product that will set you back a month's salary, how to be a size zero and please your maaaan in the bedroom...but don't expect full support and solidarity over issues like rape)

And yet............Cosmo comes up with this article on the closure of rape crisis centres (you'll need to buy the mag to read the piece). In 1985 there were 84 centres now that has been reduced to 32. Half of these have been threatened with closure. One centre in High Wycombe has had to withdraw some of its services due to funding cuts. Around 200 women were helped last year.

"We can no longer offer counselling or help with court procedures or befriending".

And many of these women are desperate for someone to talk to regarding their experience of rape. Where can they go? Who can they speak to?

Milton Keynes and York no longer have centres. The organisation Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre for Women in Merseyside (RASA) is totally overstretched and can't cope with demand.

The government, meanwhile, is chucking cash at Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARC) that are police and health service led centres, which deal with the immediate aftermath of rape. The Havens in London does vital and important work for countless women yet..... there is still a place for Rape Crisis Centres as they support women for the long the term, independent, friendlier, less clinical (no matter how understanding health professionals and cops are) and many women who work for Rape Crisis centres are survivors of rape and sexual abuse. They kinda know what you are going through and show so much empathy.

Home Office minister Meg Hillier argues: "This year the government is investing around £3m into practical support for victims of these crimes"...

Absolute peanuts and a drop in the ocean financially. It is pathetic! Rape Crisis centres are a vital service in supporting women.

As Laura (a counsellor for Rape Crisis and rape survivor) says: "People assume we'll always be there and the thought that we might be able to help someone is too terrible to contemplate".

Rape: no means NO!

“If a woman goes to a man’s apartment on the first time she meets him, she is consenting to sex. That’s what it means”. (Camille Paglia- Interview with the Vamp, 1996).

The reason I quote Paglia, who is to feminism what George Bush is to diplomacy, is because rape is back on the agenda. Vera Baird (Solicitor General for England and Wales) has announced that the government is to abandon a proposal to use expert witnesses to brief juries on the “myths” surrounding rape.

Judges have argued that the plan could lead to miscarriages of justice. An article by Yvonne Roberts criticises Baird’s decision and argues for:

“Vera Baird should order an inquiry; collate the plentiful research that already exists; monitor the courts; study how juries reach their verdicts; talk to serial rapists who have had years of successful activity before, perhaps, finally being convicted.”

I agree with Vera Baird as this proposal could indeed scupper rape trials and actually backfire. There was once upon a time a nasty piece of misogyny called the Corroboration Rule where a judge would remind the jury in a rape case of a woman’s dishonesty and that she may have a tendency to lie. This wasn’t scrapped until 1994. There was research carried out regarding this rule and the results showed that jurors felt annoyed by being told this and actually the warning from the judge backfired.

The bringing in of expert witnesses would have absolutely nothing to do with the evidence in the case and could prejudice things. People are innocent until proven guilty and have a right to a fair trial. These expert witnesses could potentially complicate the case.

But I have absolutely no qualms in supporting what Roberts argues regarding ordering an enquiry. I think it could prove fruitful in analysing the way rape is treated and understood, from the initial reporting of the attack to gathering evidence to court procedures. One in 20 rapes is reported that lead to conviction. We need to know why.

Today another article appeared by David Cox that attacks the proposal of any kind of enquiry. I found the second half of his article full throttle misogyny. He is tilting at windmills when he writes about the burden and standard of proof. He also uses a “contributory negligence” argument:
“Why shouldn’t they (women) be advised that to get themselves into a drunken stupor in the company of a frisky male could carry risks”?

He puts the onus firmly on the woman and therefore abdicates any responsibility for the man. It is the woman’s fault. Again, as Camille Pagilia argued that when a woman goes on a date there is a possibility of “mixed messages”. Again, a man’s responsibility for his behaviour is lost and let off the hook.

The magazine, Cosmo recently wrote about “grey rape” where a woman is in a situation where she never intended to have sex but wound-up being forced into it, “because until that point, they’d been a willing participant”. Again, the onus of responsibility is on the woman. And so what? The woman may have been a willing participant but she still has every right to say "No"!



Irma Kurtz (Cosmo agony aunt) gave very patronising, insulting and appalling advice to a young woman, a couple of years ago, who had been raped. Kurtz’s advice was that the woman had “asked for it”.. Fortunately, Cosmo was inundated with complaints.

A hierarchy of rape is being created here and it seems that “sexual familiarity” (where the woman knows the attacker) is treated with more leniency and is used in mitigation. Majority of rapes happen with someone the woman is acquainted with.

There is a major problem with reporting, evidence gathering and conviction rates for rape. We are seeing an increase in blaming the woman ‘cos she was drunk, ‘cos she had been a willing participant, she was wearing a thong and so on and so on. These excuses reflect dominant sexist ideology that women still “ask for it”. It also creates ambiguities that aren’t there and de-politicises rape as well.

And they wonder why women don’t report rape.

It is simple, “no means no….”

Rape Crisis Centres

It looks like rape is actually legal in Britain. Rape continually has a shamefully low conviction rate, but is it just the criminal justice system that is to blame or attitudes about rape? There are 50% less rape crisis centres now than there were in 1985. Juries rarely believe victims when it does go to court. The criminal justice system will improve when attitudes about rape change in society. Check out the Guarduan - http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,,2148480,00.html

Check out the TAR website http://www.truthaboutrape.co.uk/4844.html. They are planning a national meeting for Spring 2008.

I think feminists and the left need to get back to brass tacks and we take up demands to keep rape crisis centres open