This is not an Invitation to rape me

A new research poll carried out on behalf of the NUS finds that only a small minority of women students who have been seriously sexually assaulted have reported it to either their institution or the police. Why am I not surprised?

Perhaps it's because women cannot have failed to notice that if they do speak out about abuse, the odds of finding justice are stacked against them from the beginning.

Amnesty’s own research has found that a third of the UK population habitually blame a woman who is raped if she's been "flirtatious" or worn "sexy" clothing. Furthermore, in an ICM poll, 27% of young people thought it was acceptable for a boy to "expect to have sex with a girl" if the girl has been "very flirtatious". The same view was held by one in twelve young people if the boy/man had "spent a lot of time and money" on the girl/woman.

Scotland has a very good record in terms of a robust political response to violence against women, with a strong and outspoken women’s movement and relatively high provision of services to support those affected. However, the presence of violence in our society remains high and shows no sign of declining.
The rape conviction rate in Scotland has just hit a 25-year low, despite concerted efforts by police, prosecutors and campaigners to improve the historically dismal figures. New Scottish government statistics show that of the 821 cases recorded by police in 2008/09, just 25—less than 3% —resulted in a conviction in the courts. Indeed, only 83 suspects faced court proceedings.

We are never going to improve those figures unless we make serious inroads into the attitudes in our society that accept and excuse violence.

Rape Crisis Scotland has been running the “This is Not an Invitation to Rape Me” campaign to challenge the myths and assumptions that blame women for being the victims of violence, with one eye on the juries of tomorrow who will sit in judgement on rape cases.

But what I find striking is the lack of male voices willing to speak out. After all, we are the ones who are best placed to challenge violent images of masculinity and what it means to be "a real man".

And whether we realise it or not, men cannot help but be involved. Some are the perpetrators of violence, some are bystanders. Others are affected by violence to the women they care about, others are affected by violence themselves, but we all stand to benefit from tackling violence.