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frequently asked questions (FAQ)
Click the heading to see responses to some of the questions frequently asked of rape crisis groups - or see the Quick Links on the Home Page.
What sort of work do rape crisis groups do?
How are groups funded?
Why don’t women report?
How many false allegations of rape are there?
How many reported cases make it to court?
Are men motivated by sex?
Don’t some women ‘ask for it’ because of their behaviour, dress, appearance?
Is it just a deviant few who rape?
Mike Tyson – should he have been allowed back into the country?
He has paid the time – shouldn’t he be forgiven?
Gary Glitter – is looking at child pornography as bad as abusing children physically?
Statistics?
Do women abuse children?
What sort of counselling do rape crisis groups provide?
Can counselling be damaging?
Can counselling lead to false memories?
Do all women who have experienced sexual violence require counselling?
What is rape trauma syndrome?
The courtroom experience has been called the second assault, do you agree, and why?
What is the woman’s role in the court
Is she represented in court?
What sort of questions is the woman likely to be asked?
How are women treated in court?
What new measures are there to protect women in court?
Are accused men allowed to question the complainant in court?
What is date rape?
Is date rape as bad as ‘stranger’ rape?
Aren’t women in some way responsible?
Is date rape increasing?
Isn’t it just a matter of miscommunication?
If she has had sex with him in the past, isn’t she more likely to consent in the future?
Is Rohypnol the cause of drug rape?
What are the effects of drug rape?
Why do men drug women for sex?
How many cases of drug rape have there been?
Didn’t the police do a report on drug rape?
Why do foreign men rape women on holiday?
What can women do if they are raped on holiday?
How often does this happen?
Are some parts of the world worse than others?
What is the current definition of rape in law?
What is the definition of consent?
What involvement has the rape crisis movement had in law reform?
Should accused men be granted anonymity?
What is the maximum sentence?
What is the average sentence?
Is prison the best solution?
Should there be different offences of rape?
What are the common defences to rape?
Why don’t rape crisis centres provide services for men?
Are male rapists homosexual?
Statistics?
Is rape more traumatic for men?
Is non-consensual sex by a man on his wife considered rape?
When did it become illegal?
How many cases have there been?
Is it as traumatic as ‘real’ rape?
What do you know about the Thames Valley police video?
What facilitates are there for women who report rape?
Have the police improved in their handling of rape cases?
Does Pornography lead to rape?
Do you support censorship?
Isn’t rape the easiest charge to bring and the most difficult to prove?
What if it just the woman’s word against the man’s?
How is the woman kept informed of the progression of the case?
Do rape crisis groups comment on individual cases?
How many reports were there last year?
How many convictions?
Is there a trend in the increase in reporting?
What can women do to protect themselves from danger?
"Did you know ... the state has a duty to protect us from sexual violence"
What sort of work do rape crisis groups do?
Most member groups provide a telephone helpline service for women and girl survivors of rape, sexual abuse, attack and harassment through a model of empowerment. Depending on resources available to centres they will also offer face-to-face counselling, group work and support for partners, parents and carers of survivors. All groups take a proactive role in their local communities of prevention through education and will offer training to a wide range of groups from police to schools. The service is confidential and completely free to ALL women and girls.
Groups differ tremendously, both in their size and their funding. Some groups run on as little as £500 per year. Unlike other countries, such as Ireland, there is no guaranteed statutory funding for rape crisis groups. Most fundraise from charitable trusts and some local authorities are more willing to provide funding than others. (Also see Funding)
(Also see Statistics)
Research shows that women are less likely to report rape than they are to report domestic violence. One of the main reasons for this is fear of being disbelieved by the police. So immediately, there is a large figure of sexual violence that never gets reported. Rape is an attack on the integrity of the woman’s body and on her own autonomy. She may feel powerless to report, particularly if threat of further violence was made. Due to the intimate nature of the crime, she may feel reluctant to submit herself to the invasiveness of a forensic examination and/or questioning from the police.
The Home Office conducted research into rape cases in 1999 (A Question of Evidence) (Also see Articles) and this found that only a third of reported cases were considered by the CPS. So there is a big loss of cases at the police stage. Twenty percent of cases where there was a detected perpetrator were referred by the police to the CPS for guidance on whether to charge and in two thirds of these cases the CPS advised no further action. So the involvement of the CPS, even at the police stage, is crucial.
How many false allegations of rape are there?
There is a commonly held belief that the figure for false allegations is high. In fact there is no evidence to suggest that it is any higher than false reporting of any other crime – around 2%. In fact research conducted by the NYPD and other research conducted in Sweden (Persson, 1981) and recently in New Zealand (Jordan) also found a false accusation rate of 2%. Importantly none of those cases reached court. In fact for some crimes (for example house theft and car theft), false reporting is much higher because of insurance claims.
How many reported cases make it to court?
Home Office research (1999 A Question of Evidence) suggests that the CPS drop around a fifth of the cases referred to them and that around 20% of all reported rapes make it to court.
The myth is that men rape women because they do not have ‘legitimate’ access to women for sex. The idea is grounded on the belief that men have uncontrollable urges that must be satisfied. In fact, men’s sex drives are no more strong than women’s. If it was purely a biological urge, then masturbation would satisfy it.
Men rape women to secure power and control. Men commit child abuse to secure power and control. Men are therefore motivated by power – using their penis to achieve this is just a way of gaining power – not a way of gaining sexual relief.
Don’t some women ‘ask for it’ because of their behaviour, dress, appearance?
Again, the idea that women some how provoke attack, assumes that men are unable to control themselves. This an offensive ‘excuse’, as it does not acknowledge the vast number of men who are perfectly able to conduct themselves appropriately towards women. A good test of whether men’s sex drive is uncontrollable is in considering a 19 year old man who is having sex with a partner on the sitting room sofa in his parents house. Can he stop when his mother walks in? Yes he can.
Is it just a deviant few who rape?
Unfortunately there is no way of recognising men who rape. If they had horns and tails our job would be much easier. In reality, men who rape are no different in appearance to men who do not. The rape of tens of thousands of women each year cannot be the work of a few men. Serial rapists certainly exist but generally, the men who rape are men known to the woman, a family member or friend.
Mike Tyson – should he have been allowed back into the country?
There is a wider question here which is – ‘should rapists be allowed into the country?' We need to consider this and how it relates to the safety of women in this country.
He has paid the time – shouldn’t he be forgiven?
Mike Tyson, like many convicted rapists, did not admit the rape and did not indicate remorse or responsibility. The Home Secretary has the power to deny entry to the UK to any person that may pose a threat to people here. Unrepentant rapists do constitute a threat and should be excluded on this basis. It is not about forgiveness, it’s about safety and a strong message to men who think they can get away with rape.
Gary Glitter – is looking at child pornography as bad as abusing children physically?
Users of pornography often argue that they are not directly abusing children. But how are pornographic photographs made? The child pornography is produced, and real children harmed in the making of it – in order to satisfy those who use the pornography. In our consumer age, supply is driven by demand. Men who can afford the cost of pornography, should be held accountable for the violation of children’s minds and bodies and pay the ‘real’ price of pornography. They are child abusers and should be dealt with accordingly. Would you trust someone with your children if you knew they had pornographic pictures of children? How safe are they? Surely we are talking about effective child protection here.
Half of all girls experience some form of sexual abuse (from flashing to Rape) before their 18th birthday, one third before they are twelve.
Over 95% of convicted abusers of children are male.
82% of abusers are known to their victims and 19% are close relatives.
Only 5% of incidents are ever reported to a statutory agency less than 1% lead to a prosecution
(All stats above from CSASU Exploratory Study of prevalence of sexual abuse in a sample of 16/21 year olds. Liz Kelly Linda Regan Sheila Burton)
Is there a need for tighter regulation of state-run children’s homes?
Rather than more regulation we would like to see existing regulation followed more closely. Additionally, it a myth to think that the majority of child sexual abuse happens in state-run children’s home. More children are abused in their own family home by relatives and family ‘friends’.
What are the longer term affects of child abuse?
Can include low self esteem, self harm/suicide, eating disorders, obsessive washing, anger, depression, loss, guilt, pain etc etc
What about false memory syndrome?
In our experience most women who come to Rape Crisis have, for many years, tried to forget their experiences – however due to some stimuli – be it TV, family event, birth, death etc the memory is ignited again. The false memory advocates believe you can implant a memory that is false in a person mind – or that you can even read a book and believe that what you have read has happened to you. Groups working in the field of sexual abuse tend to reject this hypothesis. If someone were to have a memory that was not correct this would be part of a much broader problem. However we have seen evidence of where men were not able to remember or had a false memory about raping women and girls.
Are child abusers homosexual?
It is a myth to believe that child abusers are homosexual and feeds into the myth that most child abuse is male perpetrator on male children. Girls are abused in childhood and abusers are driven by the desire to control and exert power; often the sex of the child is immaterial.
There is a general trend in the media, politically and in general to confuse child abuse with paedophilia. Certainly, paedophiles abuse children but not all child abusers are paedophiles. Child abusers are motivated by power and control. Implicitly, by applying the medico-scientific label ‘paedophile’, these men are being excused as suffering from a medical condition, a condition which suggests an uncontrollable attraction towards pre-pubescent bodies. We should not use the term paedophile at all. These men do not love children, they are child abusers. They know right from wrong.
Yes, although research suggests that this is much less than male abuse of children. Rape crisis groups would support punitive measures for female abusers.
What sort of counselling do rape crisis groups provide?
Counselling takes a feminist, woman-centred, healing model which considers that crimes of violence committed against women have a catastrophic effect creating a myriad of repercussions, which impacts on the life of the survivor. The consequences are far-reaching and complex and responses reflect this.
Our model has evolved from over 30 years of effectively working with women. It has developed into an appropriate and effective response underpinned by the following themes and principles.
· An environment underpinned by a fusion of traditional counselling models.
· A feminist rationale, which considers the social constructs that give rise to and maintains oppressive structures against women.
· A response which affirms the reality of the effects on women’s life.
· That challenges the myths that surround women’s experiences of sexual violence.
· An appropriate response, which considers and values the uniqueness of women’s experiences and meets the individual needs of women.
· An empowering response which presents choices and options for women to mobilise and restore her own capacity and strategies to take control of her life.
· A celebration which affirms and validates her womanhood and capacity for survival.
· Works towards restoration, change and movement from a survivor to thriver.
The responsibility of maintaining standards of good practice is paramount to our work.
Only if carried out by people who do not have the skills and do not care about working with women.
Can counselling lead to false memories?
(also see child abuse)
No – quality counselling is about supporting women to remember safely in a supportive environment, to work towards a stage where they really become survivors and eventually can go on to thrive in their lives.
Do all women who have experienced sexual violence require counselling?
All women who experience sexual violence have a right to quality counselling on demand.
Rape Trauma Syndrome, or RTS, was first discussed by Burgess & Holmstrom in 1974. It was seen as a particular form of post traumatic stress disorder and is a label used to identify a spectrum of symptoms that a survivor of sexual assault or harassment may experience. They constructed a list of around 44 different reactions women might experience following rape. They argued that the survivor may feel the effects of RTS immediately after the assault, or even weeks or months later. RTS is seen as consisting of two phases, the first is the acute stage and the second emerges after some weeks when the survivor is trying to readjust to her life.
The courtroom experience has been called the second assault, do you agree, and why?
Yes, it can be the first time since the women has been raped and reported the incident to the police that she actually relives the full horror of the incident. She may have to face the rapist in the courtroom and may face hostile questioning of a very personal and intimidate nature in a very public setting. It is possible that she will feel very disempowered and experience the trial as another attack.
What is the woman’s role in the court?
The woman’s role is as a witness for the prosecution and as such she is not represented by legal counsel.
Not at present. In Ireland, representation of the woman has just started. If they can do it we can do it as the legal systems are very similar.
What sort of questions is the woman likely to be asked?
There have been a lot of bad examples in the past. Although the court process is still not easy for women there have been improvements and we are constantly working to improve things for women.
Examples of the kind of question asked in the past and which we hope have been outlawed by S41 of Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act:
· Have you ever had sex in a car before (If she was raped in a car)?
· Have you ever had a one night stand/ sex on the first date? (If the man has raped her eg on the way home from a club)
· Have you ever had sex with a black man before? (If he is black and she is white)
How are women treated in court?
As witnesses for the prosecution. They are not represented in court.
What new measures are there to protect women in court?
Section 41 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act is supposed to protect the complainant from questions about their sexual history sexual behaviour (see above).
Are accused men allowed to question the complainant in court?
No.
In November 1996, the then Home Secretary Michael Howard announced his intention to abolish the right of a defendant in a rape case to represent himself. This was in reaction to the case of Rallston Edwards who cross-examined Julia Mason for six days (Daily Telegraph, 23 August 1996). Her ordeal had been made worse by the fact that Edwards wore the same clothes in court as he had worn when he raped her. Michael Howard’s announcement may have indicated the government’s intention to accept a more woman-centred definition of violence by recognising the harm done to the woman in court. However, it took a change of government and another three years before legislation was introduced to prevent defendants in rape cases cross-examining the raped woman. This ‘right’ was taken away under the Youth Justice & Criminal Evidence Act 1999 after prolonged campaigning by groups such as Campaign to End Rape (CER).
Recent reports in the media and attention by researchers has led to the (inaccurate) naming of certain types of rape as ‘date’ rape. It is not a new phenomenon; men have been raping known women for millennia.
Should there be a lesser offence? (see Law)
We believe not. There is the belief that being raped by a known man is not as traumatic as being raped by a stranger. Our experience shows us that this is often not the case. Women invest a lot of trust into the relationships they form with men and if this trust is abused it can leave the woman doubting all relationships, past, present and future. To enact a lesser offence would be to minimise women’s right to justice and minimise the harm the rape has done.
Is date rape as bad as ‘stranger’ rape?
(see above)
Aren’t women in some way responsible?
Women are never responsible for men’s actions. Men are responsible for their actions and the law should make them accountable.
It is difficult to monitor something if it has no name. Before the mid 1970s, sexual harassment had no name, it existed but the language to name it did not exist. Since that time, there has been a growing awareness and reporting of sexual harassment. The same is true of the different ‘types’ of rape. Although we would argue that rape is rape, being able to name the context of the rape is often helpful for women to recognise and identify the abuse they experience as rape.
Sue Lees in her research, thought that many men who previously would simply have committed stranger rapes, now do try and engage with the women they are targeting. This is because of DNA evidence. In the past they could say “Not me” but now they cannot. Men instead go for consent defence. So they may buy her a drink (or try to) or engage her in conversation first.
Isn’t it just a matter of miscommunication?
Again, this assumes that men and women do not speak the same language. Men often deny responsibility by claiming ‘my wife doesn’t understand me’ or ‘women are difficult to understand’. Rape crisis groups say that the problem is that men do not want to hear, or ignore, what women are telling them when they say no.
Societal expectations demand that women are caring. Because of this, women may try to ‘let the man down gently’ if his sexual advances are unwelcome. However, by the time the ‘advances’ have escalated to demands and attack, women’s words often have little effect.
If she has had sex with him in the past, isn’t she more likely to consent in the future?
Just because a woman has consented to sex at some time in the past does not mean that she consents for all time. This point is made clear in marital rape. Entering into marriage does not give a man unrestricted access to a woman’s body. The same is true outside of marriage. Consent is something that is negotiated on each and every occasion. Frequently, a woman’s previous sex experience with a man may have been so awful that she would not want to repeat the experience.
Is Rohypnol the cause of drug rape?
NO – So called ‘drug rape’ is a media label that has been in response to attacks on women and girls that have happened in the UK over the last ten years in incidences where drugs have been given to the women (unwittingly) in a social setting e.g. a dance club, by a man – who is known/unknown to the women. The drug/s have been usually ‘delivered’ through drink – alcoholic/non-alcoholic. Drug assisted rape has been happening since time began. Alcohol has been used for many years, to get women and girls drunk in order to make the sexual assault easier for the perpetrator. The forced misuse of valium and other prescribed drugs is regularly used in the rape of women and girls in their own homes.
Some current safety strategies ignore youth culture i.e. that some young women may be taking leisure drugs themselves and that they might take drinks from people they don’t know. Whatever, women are not responsible for rape of any kind.
What are the effects of drug rape?
It is important to point out that reactions will vary from person to person and will depend on which type of drug was used. Drugs used may result in a woman becoming physically ‘helpless’ to respond, result in loss of memory (which may or may not return) or may stimulate sexual response. Women are not to blame for any of this. Even if she consented to take the drug (and that might be the case) she is still not responsible for any subsequent abuse. Women may experience extreme fearfulness or an ‘out of control’ sensation, particularly if they cannot remember what happened or when the memories come back. Women may have suffered physical injury but be unaware of it immediately or unaware of how the injury happened.
As well as this, women experience the same harms in ‘drug’ rape as for any other rape – risk of disease, pregnancy, etc…
Why do men drug women for sex?
To gain power and control (see above under Causes of rape ‘Are men motivated by sex?’ )
How many cases of drug rape have there been?
This is very hard to gauge. Police statistics do not break down cases in this way but reports suggest that the risk from drug rape is in fact quite small. This may only represent the tip of a much larger ice-berg. Rape drugs are just another tool in the rapists toolkit.
Didn’t the police do a report on drug rape?
Yes. The Sturman report was released as a joint Home Office/Metropolitan police document in 2000. The study analyses responses from 123 questionnaires on drug assisted sexual assault.
Holiday rape
Why do foreign men rape women on holiday?
It is a classic example of xenophobia to assume that women on holiday get raped by ‘foreign’ men. In many of the holiday rapes rape crisis groups know about, the perpetrator has been someone from the same country as the woman. The misuse of power by men is a global thing. Of course being raped away from home where the first language is not your own makes it difficult for the woman to get the help she might need.
What can women do if they are raped on holiday?
They can contact the local British consulate or embassy to ask for assistance in getting medical and legal help. They can request that the tour company provides them with an early return flight (most claim to do this) on their return they can contact their local Rape Crisis Centre who will help. If they have reported the incident/s to the police abroad, they need then to report it to their local police on return, as they may be involved in handling papers. All papers for the prosecution will have to be in the local language to the country where the attack took place. A good solicitor in the UK will help with this. Once home the Foreign Office is the place to contact for up-dates.
As often as rapes in UK
Are some parts of the world worse than others?
We have no evidence to show this – remember that there were 14,000 reports of rape in England and Wales last year – that’s a lot for any country.
Law – existing and proposed changes
What is the current definition of rape in law?
The Sexual Offences Act 2003 (the Act) came into force on the 1 May 2004. It repealed almost all of the existing statute law in relation to sexual offences. The purpose of the Act is to strengthen and modernise the law on sexual offences, whilst improving preventative measures and the protection of individuals from sexual offenders.
The main provisions of the Act include the following:
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Rape is widened to include oral penetration
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Significant changes to the issue of consent and the abolition of the Morgan defence
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Specific offences relating to children under 13, 16 and 18
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Offences to protect vulnerable persons with a mental disorder
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Other miscellaneous offences
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Strengthening the notification requirements and providing new civil preventative orders
What is the definition of consent?
The Act has three important provisions relating to consent. They are:
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A statutory definition of consent
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The test of reasonable belief in consent
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The evidential and conclusive presumptions about consent and the defendant's belief in consent
Section 74 defines consent as "if he agrees by choice, and has the freedom and capacity to make that choice". In the offences of rape, assault by penetration, sexual assault and causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent, a person (A) is guilty of an offence if (s)he:
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Acts intentionally;
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(B) does not consent to the act; and
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(A) does not reasonably believe that B consents.
Deciding whether a belief is reasonable is to be determined having regard to all the circumstances, including any steps A has taken to ascertain whether B consents (subsection (2) of sections 1-4). It is likely that this will include a defendant's attributes, such as disability or extreme youth.
This is a major change in the law and the Act abolishes the Morgan defence of a genuine though unreasonably mistaken belief as to the consent of the complainant. It means that the defendant (A) has the responsibility to ensure that (B) consents to the sexual activity at the time in question. It will be important for the police to ask the offender in interview what steps he took to satisfy him that the complainant consented.
What involvement does the rape crisis movement have in law reform?
Rape Crisis was a participant on the external reference group of the Sex Offences Review. The rape crisis movement has also been involved in consultation with the Sentencing Advisory Panel, the Community Justice National Training Organisation, the Women’s Unit, the Crime Reduction Programme and HM Crown Prosecution Inspectorate.
Should accused men be granted anonymity?
We must have anonymity for the victims otherwise women will not come forward to report. Most of the women who contact rape crisis have never reported to the police. We must respect the courage for those who do. It is not easy or pleasant going through all the police interviews and the courts. We must at least retain anonymity.
We must not treat the accused in rape cases any different from murder or child abuse. You cannot have special rules for the accused in rape cases as this will feed the myth that women who report rape are lying, that it is easy to report rape etc…
Anyone accused of rape should not be named until charged with the offence. Sometimes police forces do not adhere to this. On being charged it can be useful for the name of an accused to be published, as other women who have been raped by him, often with the same modus operandi, may be encouraged to report.
The Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1976 sections 4 and 5 provide for the anonymity of complainants in rape cases. The Criminal Justice Act 1988 amended the law on anonymity for complainants in rape cases so that anonymity commences when an allegation of rape is made to police and not--as provided in the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1976--when a defendant is formally accused. The 1988 Act also removed the anonymity of defendants in rape cases. There were further additions made in the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992 and the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999.
The maximum sentence for rape is life imprisonment.
This varies widely. The average sentence seems to be around four years although we do know of many cases where this was much less.
There are problems with prison. The man may simply gain access to a wider social circle in which he can find legitimacy for his actions. Sex offender treatment programmes have yet to be fully researched and are generally more geared towards child abusers than abusers of adult women. While prison remains the only way to secure women’s protection we will continue to push for more appropriate sentencing. Of course for many women and children the abuse happens in secret, in the home and the man pays no penalty.
Should there be different offences of rape?
No. This was agreed at the Sex Offences Review and there will be no recommendation for separate offences. Rape is rape regardless of the relationship or the context.
What are the common defences to rape?
There are 3 defences to rape.
1) Nothing happened
2) It wasn’t me
3) She consented.
Because of DNA fingerprinting, we are getting much fewer of the first two defences and much more of defence three.
Because of the Morgan ruling in the mid 1970s, to convict a man of rape first of all, the prosecution had to convince the jury beyond reasonable doubt that the woman was not consenting. Whether he was guilty or not depended on whether or not he thought she was consenting – what was going on in his head – not what was happening to her body. This was the “Morgan” rule which says that a man is not guilty of rape if he believed she was consenting NO MATTER HOW UNREASONABLE THAT BELIEF.
The Sexual Offences Act 2003 introduced the concept of 'reasonable steps'. Deciding whether a belief is reasonable is done by considering any steps he has taken to ascertain whether she consented (subsection (2) of sections 1-4).
This is a major change in the law and the Act abolishes the Morgan defence of a genuine though unreasonably mistaken belief as to consent.
Why don’t rape crisis centres provide services for men?
Rape crisis provide services for women run by women. Frequently men contact groups because there is a lack of services for men. When this happens the phoneliner will advise the man of local and national contacts that are available for him to contact.
Rape crisis groups were formed in the political context of the Women’s Movement. They were a response to the lack of public acknowledgement of rape and the lack of appropriate services. Rape crisis groups cannot hope to solve all the ills of the world, they concentrate instead on trying to make a difference in women’s lives.
(see child abuse)
Just as female rape is under-reported so we suspect is male rape. As far as we know there are no accurate statistical details on the extent of male rape.
Is rape more traumatic for men?
We feel that the horrific act itself of rape cannot be weighted against another attack of a similar nature whether it be male or female, the effects are individual and always traumatic. The idea that women find it easier to report the crime of rape is a myth.
It is however worth considering why a man’s mind and body would be more damaged than that of a woman? Women will have to deal with issues that men will not, such as pregnancy testing, morning after pill, pregnancy, abortion or birth of a child.
Is non-consensual sex by a man on his wife considered rape?
Yes.
1991, before then it was considered that women consented to men once and for all time on marriage.
How many cases have there been?
There is the example of the man who got ten years:
Guardian 17.3.98
Ten Years for man who raped wife.
A former special constable who raped his wife 7 times over 5 days after she told him she was leaving him was jailed for 10 years yesterday… He had kept her shackled to a radiator.
This demonstrates that it is not useful to think about different ‘degrees of rape’ with the relationships between the parties determining the sentence. However, we do know that even in the 21st century, few cases of marital rape result in convictions.
Is it as traumatic as ‘real’ rape?
It is inappropriate to try to measure the impact of rape on a scale of one to ten. Each rape, and the effects it might have on the women, is dependent on a variety of factors.
What do you know about the Thames Valley Police video?
Roger Graef filmed police officers questioning a woman who was complaining of rape, for a TV programme ‘Police’ for the BBC in 1982. This brought the public’s attention to the techniques of intimidation employed by the police. This highlighted the culture of disbelief that to some extent still pervades the criminal justice system. Police practice has improved but training is still required in understanding how best to treat women complaining of rape.
What facilitates are there for women who report rape?
Good and bad it varies across the country (see below).
Have the police improved in their handling of rape cases?
In the last ten years we have seen improvements in relations between Rape Crisis groups and local constabularies. A recent study conducted by Rape Crisis highlights improvements in parts of the services provided by the police to women reporting the crime of rape or sexual abuse. If we were to `paste` these examples together, it would represent the kind of service women want to see offered as a whole in EVERY constabulary. What we see is good practice in some areas, but not all.
What we also found was that there is no one constabulary that delivers all of the good service required by women reporting rape. The fact that good practice happens in some constabularies, is a credit to the dedication of the officers and policy makers in those particular constabularies and the work of Rape Crisis in those areas. It also highlights what is possible - probably with very little extra resources in terms of funding and personnel.
Where the local constabulary works with the local rape crisis the service to women survivors is notable improved.
When a women calls a Rape Crisis help-line numbers and asks what will happen if she reports the incident to her local police – we tell her the truth, whatever that may be in the local context.
Does Pornography lead to rape?
There are differing opinions on this issue. Rape crisis argues that pornography, in reducing women to sexualised images, reduces men’s ability to see women as sexual equals. In pornography, women are depicted as the passive image and men are in control of what they use that image for. This form of inequality may lead to some men wanting to replicate that power relationship with real women, not just images.
Except for the minority of people who think that you should show anything including rape – everyone supports censorship. Therefore, it is not a question of being for or against censorship. It about where you draw the line and why. Why should one censor?
Take advertising as an example. If advertising didn’t work, multi-national companies would not bother advertising their cars. If the adverts have an effect, we are entitled to assume pornography has an effect.
Isn’t rape the easiest charge to bring and the most difficult to prove?
This is actually a misquoting of the myth. It is worse than that. The myth is that ‘Rape is the easiest accusation to make and the most difficult to disprove’.
Actually, men find it quite easy to disprove rape under our justice system. Our conviction rate is low and hovers around 6%. Despite this, women continue to seek justice. Rape crisis supports women whatever their decision.
What if it just the woman’s word against the man’s?
We know such cases are more difficult but perhaps the CPS should provide trained special prosecutors for such cases who can deal with the myths about rape that the defence inevitably run.
How is the woman kept informed of the progression of the case?
There should be one person who keeps in touch with the complainant about progress of the case. Currently the police keep in touch with her up to the point when the man is charged and then often she hears nothing more.
Does Rape crisis comment on individual cases?
No. It is often impossible to comment on ongoing individual cases. This is because we often have little knowledge about the case, often only that which has been reported by the media. However, historic cases such as Owen Oyston and the DJ Rapist can be useful cases for discussion. What we can do is comment on how the case adds to the existing knowledge about rape.
How many reports were there last year?
In 2004/05 measuring offences changed because of the Sexual Offences Act. A total of the various reported offences of rape of a female (of whatever age) was 13,322. This however just the tip of the total number of rapes - most of which are not reported. (See also Statistics)
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Over two-thirds of cases dropped out at the police stage and did not make it as far as the courts.
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One quarter of incidents initially recorded as rape were subsequently 'no-crimed' by the police.
The current conviction rate is 5.8%. (See CER website)
Is there a trend in the increase in reporting?
The problem about rape in this country is that less than 6% of women who report rape to the police see their attacker convicted of rape. It used to be over 25% and it is falling. This is the issue that must be addressed in this country – perhaps by special prosecutors, as in some states in America.
What can women do to protect themselves from danger?
The over whelming danger to women in relation to sexual violence is not from strangers it is from men they know – because of this, much 'safety advice' may be largely useless.
This document is a ‘living’ document. No single document can ever provide all the answers to all the questions and so updating the document will be an ongoing process.