Is it the fault of women?
A survey by The Scottish Executive has found that 32% in Scotland believe that a woman can be partly to blame if she is raped.
In the Scottish Executive survey, 27% said if a woman was drunk she was partly to blame, while the proportion was 26% if the woman was wearing revealing clothing. There are many people, men and women, who will use flimsy excuses to get what they want in this instance, of this there can be no doubt.
These figures may sound shocking but with the increase in the consumption of alcohol maybe the reaction is not so incredible after all. Wine sales have increased to a staggering €1 billion yearly. More women in their thirties and forties, who enter rehabilitation facilities in this country, are claiming that their dependency on wine that is the reason for their addiction.
However there is a growing trend of women who claim they have had their drinks spiked with the likes of rohypnol have more then likely just had too much to drink. Some have claimed that they have been unconscious for anywhere between 20 minutes and 4 hours and having no recollection of what has happened when they eventually come to
The makers of rohypnol have stated, on a number of occasions, that in order to show signs of these symptoms that around 15 tablets must be placed in a drink. Rohypnol is also is insoluble in drinks and has a dye in it, which would make it extremely difficult to not see.
It is well known that Ireland has the highest rate of alcohol consumption, per capita, in Europe and with figures quoted as 16% of women who admit to binge drinking at least once a week, maybe there can be some truth to the arguments that some make the situation worse by the amounts they drink.
I am not defending rapists of any kind. To have to go through an ordeal such as that must be horrible for anyone, especially a woman. Studies,in 2003, have shown that 1-2% of reported rape cases in Ireland result in a conviction, which is a terrible statistic. To know you’ve been raped is bad enough; to know the person that committed the crime is still out there must be even worse.
Attitudes across the board need to change, but it is doubtful it will happen. With the mentality of being here for ‘a good time and not a long time’, excess drinking will result in the same drunken decisions made by women.
Friday, August 10th, 2007 and is filed under Pain and suffering, Thoughts & Questions, Views on News.
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sean Says:
I think that it is silly to even think that women invite rape by the way they dress or how sexy they act either under the influence of alcohol or any other opiate. The act of rape is horrible and men have to know that ‘NO’ means “NO’. Those who rape are sick and deserve whatever punishment to courts hand out.
August 21st, 2007 at 1:21 am
Mike Says:
I agree with you that Rape is a horrible act and deserves severe punishment.
Not for one moment do i have empathy for those who commit the crime but at the same time they pick and choose their targets on nights out.
Walk through the likes of temple bar around 11pm on a Friday and Saturday night and already there are signs of women (and men) staggering around drunk and not having a clue where they are.
The Irish social scene doesn’t respect alcohol and uses it to get from point a (sobriety) to point b(drunkeness) and doesn’t care as much as to what comes in between.
It’s a worrying trend where so many people cannot remember what they did the previous night or how they got home. So from that alone there is a strong possibilty that more rapes have taken place.
My point about of this is that this problem exists.
A person might not want to get knocked down by a car but if they stand out in the middle of a busy road for long enough the chances of that happening increase, don’t they?
August 22nd, 2007 at 12:44 pm